Sputnik V vaccine is no match for a fast-spreading variant such a Covid-19, says an article on Nature.
Ineffective against SARS-CoV-2
Many vaccines — including Sputnik V, developed by the Gamelaya National Centre for Epidemiology and Microbiology in Moscow — trigger the production of antibodies targeting the SARS-CoV-2 protein called spike, which the virus uses to infect host cells. Scientists worry that the vaccines might be ineffective against SARS-CoV-2 variants with mutations in the spike-encoding gene.
What the study says
Benhur Lee at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City and his colleagues obtained samples of antibody-laden blood serum from 12 people vaccinated with Sputnik V. The authors then tested the serum against benign viruses engineered to make the versions of spike found in certain SARS-CoV-2 variants.
The team found that 8 of the 12 samples did not inhibit viruses equipped with spikes from B.1.351, the variant first identified in South Africa. But the samples did effectively overcome viruses with spikes from B.1.1.7, a variant first detected in the United Kingdom.
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Source: Nature
