A small preliminary laboratory study has shown that levels of Omicron neutralizing antibodies of people immunized with vacuna Sputnik V of Russia did not decrease as much as those of those who received injections of Pfizer.
The joint Russian-Italian study – financed by the Russian Direct Investment Fund, which markets Sputnik V abroad—compared the blood serum of people who had received the different vaccines.
The researchers said that samples taken three to six months after the second dose of vaccines showed that antibody levels in recipients of two doses of Sputnik V were more resistant to Omicron than in those immunized with Pfizer.
It included 51 people vaccinated with Sputnik V and 17 after two injections of the Pfizer vaccine.
“Today there is an obvious need for a third booster shotsaid the preliminary study published on January 19.
The study, which will seek certification by peer review, showed that Omicron-specific neutralizing antibodies were detected in the blood serum of 74.2% of people vaccinated with Sputnik and 56.9% of those vaccinated with Pfizer/BioNtech.
An earlier preliminary study conducted by the Instituto Gamalea, the developer of Sputnik V, showed that an injection of Sputnik Light vaccine booster provided a stronger antibody response against Omicron than the two-dose Sputnik V vaccine alone.
The Omicron variant has carried the figures of Covid-19 cases to record levels in parts of Western Europe and U.S and now it is hitting Russia, where daily new infections across the country rose to 38,850 on Tuesday from 33,899 the day before.