After vaccination with the Russian drug “Sputnik V”, a stronger immunity to the coronavirus is developed than after the disease itself. This opinion was expressed virologist of the Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology named after N.F. Gamalei Alexander Butenko.
According to the specialist, an immune response to coronavirus is developed, even if a person has suffered an infection in a mild or asymptomatic form. At the same time, both vaccination and the disease itself leave fewer people susceptible to the virus in society.
Recent studies have shown that after inoculation with Sputnik V, the amount of antibodies produced in the body is even higher than after COVID-19. However, even if they decrease over time, the risk of getting sick is still quite low.
“Moreover, there is such an effect as immunological memory – a meeting with a similar pathogen leads to the rapid development of high levels of antibodies, a protective effect is created,” Butenko quotes Sputnik radio.
A large-scale vaccination against coronavirus is currently underway in Russia. Anyone can make vaccinations in all regions with the Sputnik V developed at the Gamalea Center. Studies have shown that to date, the preventive effectiveness of the drug is 91.4%, the vaccine protects against the severe course of coronavirus infection by 100%.
On December 22, it was reported that a new variant of the coronavirus, discovered in the UK, acquired several significant mutations, allowing it to spread faster and at the same time escape from the immune system. Scientists believe that the strain was formed in a patient with immunodeficiency, in whose body the pathogen was kept for several months.
It is possible that vaccines against coronavirus infection will have to be finalized. However, Sputnik V is already effective against a new mutation of the pathogen, said Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).