The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund) today announced the Russian one-shot Sputnik Light vaccine against coronavirus has been approved by the Ministry of Health of Argentina as a standalone vaccine and a booster shot.

Sputnik Light vaccine is based on human adenovirus serotype 26 which is the first component of the Sputnik V vaccine.

Argentina was one of the first countries in the world to authorize Sputnik V in December 2020. The National Administration of Drugs, Foods and Medical Devices (ANMAT) registered Sputnik V based on Russian clinical trial data without additional trials in Argentina. Sputnik V is one of the main vaccines used during the vaccination campaign throughout the country, providing for 35 times reduction in new COVID cases during 4 months. Sputnik V has played a decisive role in protecting population of Argentina and helping the country to stay among the leaders in the fight against coronavirus.

The one-shot Sputnik Light is also a highly effective vaccine used both on standalone basis and applied as a booster. Findings by the Gamaleya Center based on data from 28,000 subjects in Moscow have demonstrated Sputnik Light vaccine administered standalone has 70% efficacy against infection from the Delta variant of coronavirus during the first three months after vaccination. The vaccine is 75% effective among subjects under the age of 60.

Efficacy of one-shot Sputnik Light as a booster against Delta variant for other vaccines will be close to the efficacy against the Delta variant of the Sputnik V vaccine: over 83% against infection and over 94% against hospitalization.

Sputnik Light has been proven to be safe and highly effective by real-world vaccination data. In particular, the vaccine has demonstrated efficacy of between 78.6-83.7% among the elderly as confirmed by the Ministry of Health of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Moreover, a study in Argentina on heterogeneous regimens combining Sputnik Light and vaccines produced by AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, Moderna and Cansino has demonstrated Sputnik Light is an effective universal booster. Each “vaccine cocktail” combination with Sputnik Light provided higher antibody titer on 14th day after administering the second dose as compared to original homogenous (same vaccine as first and second dose) regimens of each of the vaccines.

The data also demonstrated high safety profile of using Sputnik Light in combinations with all other vaccines with no serious adverse events following the vaccination in any combinations. The study provides the strongest scientific evidence to date supporting the mix&match approach with 5 vaccines involved.

Paraguay’s Ministry of Health found Sputnik Light to be 93.5% effective during the country’s ongoing vaccination campaign.

A one-shot vaccination regimen of Sputnik Light has a number of key advantages, including ease of administering the vaccine, monitoring and more flexible re-vaccination schedule when used as a booster.