London: British pharma giant AstraZeneca is contemplating combining its COVID-19 vaccine with Russian Sputnik V vaccine in a bid to increase efficacy.
AstraZeneca said on Friday it will be assessing combinations of their vaccine with the one developed by Russia’s Gamaleya Institute.
Both vaccines are based on the common cold virus.
“Current full dose AstraZeneca regimen resulted in 62% efficacy. If they go for a new clinical trial, we suggest trying a regimen of combining the AZ shot with the #SputnikV human adenoviral vector shot to boost efficacy. Combining vaccines may prove important for revaccinations,” the developers of Sputnik V had said last month.
The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has an average efficacy of 70.4 per cent, while Russia has claimed a 92 per cent effectiveness for its Sputnik V.
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