Media release

From: Springer Nature

Virology: Sputnik V vaccine efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 variants assessed

Serum samples from 12 individuals in Argentina who received two doses of the Gamaleya Sputnik V vaccine indicate that the vaccine is effective at neutralising the Alpha variant of SARS-CoV-2, but is not as effective against the Beta variant. The research is published in Nature Communications.

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants has caused concern because it is not known how resistant they may be to current vaccines. The Sputnik V vaccine has a reported efficacy of 91.6% following phase III clinical trials from 07 September–24 November 2020, and is now in use in a number of countries besides Russia, including Argentina, Mexico and Hungary. However, many variants of concern, such as Alpha (B.1.1.7) and Beta (B.1.351), were not present in Russia during the trial period and it is not known what the neutralising effect of Sputnik V may be against these variants.

To investigate the effectiveness of the Sputnik V vaccine, Benhur Lee and colleagues used recombinant viruses carrying the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein mutations found in the Alpha and Beta variants or only the E484K spike mutation (present in a number of variants of concern). They analysed 12 serum samples from recipients of the Sputnik V vaccine in Argentina one month after they had completed a two-dose regime. They found that the sera showed effective neutralisation against the Alpha variant. The sera showed moderately reduced activity against the E484K mutation alone and markedly reduced activity against the Beta variant. When extrapolating to full serum strength, only one of the samples showed effective neutralisation against the Beta variant.

The authors note that while analysis of a larger sample size is warranted, the ability of the Beta variant and the E484K mutation to escape antibody neutralisation in the samples analysed suggests the control of some emergent variants may benefit from updated vaccines.