The Ministry of Health has agreed to update the composition of the COVID-19 vaccine “Sputnik Light”

The Russian Ministry of Health has agreed to update the antigenic composition of the Sputnik Light vaccine against coronavirus infection. The vaccine could go into civilian circulation as soon as tomorrow, December 11, said Alexander Gintsburg, director of the Gamaleya Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology.

“The Ministry of Health has agreed on everything, but the vaccine will go into civilian circulation on Monday. And on Tuesday, apparently, the first batch will go to the regions, because there are still procedures that can only be completed on Monday,” Mr. Gunzburg told TASS.

In a conversation with RIA Novosti, the epidemiologist clarified that on the morning of December 11, the Ministry of Health will have to approve the external packaging of the vaccine – the box in which the vials are stored. “I think it should take 1.5-2 hours. After this, we have the right to enter all 135 thousand doses of the vaccine into the electronic accounting system and begin shipping to the regions,” he added.

Sputnik Light is the first component of the Sputnik V vaccine, developed by the National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology. N.F. Gamaleya. It was registered in August 2020.

On October 23, Alexander Ginzburg reported that Sputnik V had stopped protecting against COVID-19 since January. In the center Gamaleya admitted that the updated Sputnik V will be released by March 2024. In the organisation notedthat work on modifying the updated COVID-19 vaccine has slowed down due to insufficient funding.