Sputnik V vaccine shows higher Omicron-specific antibodies than Pfizer, reveals study

Even as the world continues to grapple with the rising number of COVID-19 infections, a recent study has revealed that levels of Omicron variant-neutralising antibodies of those vaccinated with two doses of Russia's Sputnik V did not decline as much as those who took Pfizer jabs.

The study, funded by the Russian Direct Investment Fund, compared the blood serum samples of people taken three to six months after the second dose of both the COVID-19 vaccines.

Published in MedRxiv on January 19, the study was conducted by researchers from Italy's Spallanzani Institute and Russia's Gamaleya Institute - the developer of the Sputnik V vaccine.

According to the study, the Russian-made vaccine demonstrated more than twice a higher level of coronavirus neutralising antibodies to the recently mutated Omicron variant than two doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

Blood samples from 51 people who took the Sputnik V shot and 17 vaccinated with the Pfizer jab were compared in the research. Following the study, researchers noted that the Sputnik V vaccine showed a significantly smaller, i.e. 2.6 times, reduction of virus neutralising activity against the Omicron variant as compared to the reference Wuhan variant.

"The Sputnik V vaccine showed an 8.1-fold reduction of virus neutralising activity against Omicron as against 21.4-fold reduction for Pfizer vaccine," researchers noted.

The study demonstrates that the Sputnik V vaccine neutralises the Omicron variant by generating a robust antibody response associated with high levels of protection.

The researchers said that 100 per cent of those individuals vaccinated with Sputnik V were able to neutralise the Omicron variant as opposed to 83.3 per cent of people who took the Pfizer jab.

"Among all samples, 74.2 per cent of Sputnik V-vaccinated sera were able to neutralise Omicron vs 56.9 per cent for Pfizer-vaccinated," the scientists added.

Meanwhile, an earlier study by Russia's Gamaleya Institute demonstrated that a booster shot of the Sputnik Light vaccine provided people with stronger antibody response against the Omicron variant than the two-dose Sputnik V jab alone.

Stating that the need of the hour is to get the third booster shot against the COVID-19 virus, the researchers added that one of the most effective approaches is the use of heterologous booster vaccination pioneered in Sputnik V vaccines.

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