MANILA, Philippines — Recipients of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine do not need to worry if they take the second dose later than scheduled, an expert said Friday.
The delivery of 50,000 Sputnik V vaccine doses faces delay “due to ongoing upgrades and latest developments,” the government earlier said. The doses were intended as the second shot for those who have been inoculated with the Russian-made vaccine early in June.
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Dr. Rontgene Solante, a member of the government’s vaccine expert panel, said the delay in the delivery of Sputnik V doses is “not significant enough” to render the vaccine ineffective.
“If the delay is only four weeks or two months, I think it is still good. It can still be a good vaccine,” Solante said in a forum.
“There will still be partial protection based on initial data. We don’t need to worry about that,” he added.
The Sputnik V jab consists of two different components of the vaccine to be administered 21 days apart.
The government has yet to announce a date for the arrival of the shots.
Solante, who also heads the adult infectious diseases unit at San Lazaro Hospital, said a longer interval between doses may even boost the jab’s efficacy, citing the case of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
A study published in The Lancet suggested the efficacy of the AstraZeneca shot was found to be at 81% with the longer gap of 12 weeks between the first and second dose, compared with 55% efficacy if the interval between two doses was six weeks.
Vaccines made by Gamaleya Research Institute and AstraZeneca use viral vector platform.
The maker of Sputnik V asked the country’s Food and Drug Administration to amend the emergency use authorization granted to the jab so there will be longer interval period between two doses to 90 days.