Kazakhstan approves Russia's single-dose Sputnik Light vaccine

Kazakhstan has approved the Russian single-dose Sputnik Light vaccine against COVID-19, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which markets the shot abroad and signs manufacturing deals, said on Thursday.

“RDIF announces registration of the Russian Sputnik Light single-component vaccine against coronavirus by the Ministry of Healthcare of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The single-component Sputnik Light vaccine will reduce population’s vaccination timeline and speed up herd immunity buildup,” the Fund said.

The Sputnik Light vaccine is the first component of the Sputnik V vaccine. The Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Healthcare also registered the Sputnik V vaccine in February 2021.

About Sputnik Light

Russia’s Sputnik Light is the first component (recombinant human adenovirus 26 serotype (rAd26) of the Sputnik V vaccine. The vaccine is based on a proven and well-studied platform of human adenoviral vectors, which cause the common cold and have been around for thousands of years, as demonstrated by the Russian Gamaleya Center during laboratory tests.

Adenoviruses, which are found in the respiratory tract and regularly cause acute respiratory infections, have become the most commonly used viruses to engineer vectors. Scientists from the Gamaleya Center have been working on adenoviral vector-based vaccines since the 1980s and now lead the world to develop these vaccines.

The effectiveness was found 79.4% based on the analysis of data from the 28th day after receiving immunization by citizens of the Russian Federation as part of the mass vaccination program in the period December 5, 2020 – April 15, 2021. The vaccine elicits the development of virus-neutralizing antibodies in 91.67% of individuals on the 28th-day post-immunization. And the cellular immune response against the S Protein of SARS-CoV-2 develops in 100% of volunteers on the 10th day.