Russia develops a version of its Sputnik V vaccine targeting the Omicron variant

Russia announced Monday that it is developing a version of its vaccine Sputnik V against him Covid-19 aimed specifically at your Omicron variant, in the “unlikely event” that the current serum is insufficient.

The Instituto Gamaleia “It has already begun to develop a new version of the Sputnik vaccine adapted to Omicron,” the Russian Sovereign Fund, which funded the development of the vaccine.

However, Russian scientists are “convinced” that current versions of Sputnik V and Sputnik Light they are “capable of neutralizing the Omicron variant” and are conducting studies to measure its efficacy, the same source said.

In the “unlikely event that a modification is necessary”, Russia would be willing to “provide hundreds of millions of booster doses against the omicron variant for the international market by February 20,” the fund added.

Sputnik V’s Western competitors, including US laboratories Pfizer and Moderna, have already announced plans to develop versions tailored to the omicron variant of the new coronavirus.