Volunteers Report 'Side Effects' After Taking Much Hoped 'Sputnik-V Vaccine' - Russian Health Minister Updates

As the final clinical trials of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine is currently ongoing, Russian health minister Mikhail Murashko said that one in seven volunteers have complained of side effects.

According to the Moscow Times, the volunteers reported side effects including weakness and muscle pain after receiving the Sputnik V vaccine.

But the results of the phase 1/2 trials of the vaccine published in The Lancet reports of no serious adverse effects. It was yesterday that, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd in India have agreed to cooperate on clinical trials and distribution of 100 million of doses of the Sputnik V vaccine in the country.

“Approximately 14 percent have small complaints of weakness, muscle pain for 24 hours and an occasional increase in body temperature,” Murashko told the state-run TASS news agency. Further pointing to the effects, he said the symptoms ‘level off’ by the next day, while the complications are described in the instructions and are predictable.

As per TASS news agency, more than 300 out of the announced 40,000 study volunteers have been inoculated so far with the vaccine. Also, volunteers are expected to receive a second shot of the vaccine within 21 days of the first dose.

Giving further hopes on the distribution, Murashko stated that the general population could be given Sputnik V in late November or early December.

The Sputnik V vaccine has been developed by the Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology and became the world’s first registered COVID-19 vaccine based on the human adenoviral vectors platform.