Let's Compare Indian Vaccines with Russian Vaccine Sputnik V

 

 Hi there I'm sangam sharma  you're  on Sangam Sharma Blogs now there's so much of bad news going around so i thought let me bring you some good piece of news today now if there is one thing that india really needs right now what is it it is vaccines more and more that is our only way out of this pandemic and guess what we are now getting up for the third vaccine to actually arrive in the country we're talking about sputnik we the russian vaccine one of the first to be developed in the world and has lots of things that are way better in a way if not at par with what we already have in the country so today in this Blog i will bring you a head-to-head comparison of the sputnik we versus what we have in the country already that is Covishield and Covaxin first up let's talk about the technology now sputnik we uses something called a adenoviral based vaccine which is a weakened form of the virus that is then injected in your body and then your body mimics that immune response and builds antibodies against covid 19.

Now this is the same technology that is used in Covishield  the oxford astrazeneca vaccine as well but Bharat biotech is actually different when it comes to its tech because what they do is they use an inactivated vaccine which is basically they pick up a covered strain make it chemically kill it and then inject it in your body so it's a little bit of a difference in that tech but uh other things let's talk about that doses all three are two dose vaccines but sputnik v has something fascinating it actually has two different formulas for its first and second jab okay so this is this is not there in any other vaccine now sputnik says this is actually done so that it boosts your immune system even further how they say thatinstead of using the same version of the vaccine two times say in covishield two jabs covaxin and two jabs in sputnik they put in two different formulas in your body and this has proved to be having better effect on your body it has a better efficacy it makes it safer and also the reactions that you get to vaccine this is much less in this this is what sputnik claims now with these jabs in sputnik the two different formulas that they use are given at a gap of about 21 days for Covishield remember now the revisedis that both the jabs have to be given between a difference of at least six to eight weeks some doctors say take it after 10 weeks also that is when Covishield  has its best efficacy and co-vaccine of course you know is 28 days and then efficacy the all-important question here well this is where sputnik v really scores above the rest sputnik is one of the only three vaccines in the world which have an efficacy of over 90 percent it has a efficacy of 92 percent and it is deemed to be safe and offercomplete protection against hospitalization and death as well now against the other two vaccines astrazeneca Covishield that has an efficacy of roughly 72 percent over there sometimes and bharat biotech vaccine though it has not been peer reviewed their own claim is that they have an efficacy of aboutroughly eighty percent now when it comes to storage let's look at that how easy is it to store now all three vaccines can be stored at the refrigerator levels but again sputnik has a bit of a surprise over there sputnik is actually not just conducive for india because it can be stored at refrigerator levelsit is actually a freeze dried vaccine now what is a freeze-dried vaccine means that means it comes in powder form this powder form is then hydrated and then put inside of you now what does it do this powder form means that the formula of the vaccine is very stable much more stable than what you have in the other vaccine they are also stable but this is said to be in technical terms it has an edge over the others and then it also improves the storage life and the shelf life of the vaccine this is where it is a major major hit and a tick against the others but then let's tend to the other important questions here the most pressing bits when it comes to the vaccine here in the country middle of such a massive second wave will it work against the new variants the double mutation will it work against the south africa uk variant and all of that in that now the thing to remember here is that there has been no study that backs the claims of all these vaccine manufacturerswhen they say that this will work against the variator there's just not been enough time for uh for all these studies to actually be performed and come out with a report on this but let's tell you what they claim okay currently on the face of it all vaccines are supposed to work against all variants but in sputnik vs case by their own claim they say that their response to the south african variant is not very strong but when it comes to the uk variant they claim they are the best in the world they say this has been backed by some studies and clinical trials that they've done and what they've performed across the country now cut to covishield and covaxin adar punawala spoke  with News Channels  and he said that against the uk strain it is bringing down the level of hospitalization and death that basically means it will not give you 100 protection or 100 percent a lot of efficacy against the uk strain but it will bring down the thing so the stage of hospitalization and death is drastically brought down but remember when it came to the south african strain south africa had sent back one million astrazeneca oxford kobe shield jabs to india saying it doesn't  work in our case in kovaxin again we don't know there is no data but icmr has given a statement saying that covaxin does work against the uk strain now double mutation will it work against that well that's the key question but like i said there is no data available on this but when i Watch about this from the best virologists in the country they are telling me that over a period of time covert is likely to become like say h1n1 and other viral diseases which means that there will be new strains coming up at regular intervals in years to come really and that means that we will require to have updated vaccines year on year so the key thing to remember here for everybody is that don't wait that a better vaccine will come and i will get that jab no you have to take whatever is available right now because that is the only solution to cutting the chain of infection that is the need of the hour once you take all these vaccines year on year one what you do is you really bring down the level of infection the level of sort of virus strain that you will have in your body and as the time develops we will see whatever is to be done but don't all these details that i'm giving you right now don't for a minute think that oh let's wait for sputnik let's wait for johnson and johnson let's wait for pfizer and modana to come in that's not the solution here you really have to take what is available right now also remember technically this will keep mutating there will always be a new mutation that will come up that's how viruses are by nature so it is important right now to ensure that you are safe especially when the peak is going on now let's talk about the cost well cost is something that the government decides mostly but sputnik we at the moment says that they will be giving it to india at the moment we don't know what the negotiated rate is but i spoke with the ceo of sputnik we and they said it will be about ten dollars per dose that is what they're giving it to the rest of the world as well so let's see what comes out of that and then timeline and productivity because that really is the real thing that will be required right now how soon can we have it well you know that kovi shield is produced by Serum  institute in india so it's a manufactured in india vaccine covaxin is made and even it was developed here that means it is a made in india vaccine now sputnik we also is currently tied up with not one not two but at least three different pharma companies we know and they will be working at different levels to try and get their uh production up and at the moment the last i watch the  interview of ceo sputnik he told that a minimum of 200 million doses is what they are working on and that is just one manufacturer so imagine if more and more manufacturers tie up with their formula share uh you know if sputnik shares those formulas with all these manufacturers there will be even more vaccines in fact they believe that india truly is the pharmacy of the world and they will be producing so many vaccines that not just all of india can be vaccinated but it can be exported out to the world as well but that is the good news let me give you the not so good news here uh again this is something that could be updated in the days to come but in interview of the ceo sputnik he said that they will be ready ready for manufacturing in fact ready to have the jab on the counter only by the fourth quarter of 2021 that means it's only towards the end of the year that we might get sputnik so we have to wait and see how this develops remember currently you're still waiting for the drug controller to give his nod which is likely to happen and then we'll all be waiting for the third vaccine in the country but like i said earlier let me repeat that really for you there is one solution and one solution only to getting ourselves out of this pandemic and achieving herd immunity that is getting yourself vaccinated why is it important to get yourself vaccinated right now because right now in the country a second wave is going on so please do not wait for one vaccine to come in or hope that something better is on the cards or in the lines just get whatever you can right now we really hope with this the good news is that manufacturing capabilities will increase and soon every adult in the country can be vaccinated i hope this was helpful.

we'll see you again in the next Blog