Putin announced the beginning of mass vaccination from Covid in Russia. But there is a problem: pharmaceutical companies can stably release only one of its components from the required two

At the beginning of the week, Russian President Vladimir Putin promised that in the coming days in Russia, two million doses of the first domestic vaccine “satellite V” would produce. Mass vaccination in the country should begin next week, in Moscow - already on Saturday, December 5. However, as Medusa found out, difficulties can arise with vaccination, which were not widely known about before: a lot of the first component of the vaccine has been released in Russia, but the pharmaceutical companies cannot yet establish a stable production of the second. Without it, vaccination can be started, but it is impossible to finish.

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There are only about 500 thousand doses of the Sputnik V vaccine in warehouses in Russia so far

In Russia, mass vaccination from the Covid with the first registered vaccine "satellite V" begins. Throughout the country, she should start next week - such an instruction was given by President Vladimir Putin.

In Moscow, vaccination will begin on Saturday, December 5, the day before, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced. On December 4, 70 vaccination centers will open in the capital, said the vice-mayor of Anastasia Rakova. According to her, only Muscovites from the main risk groups - employees of educational, medical and social organizations will be able to vaccinate from coronavirus.

“We really hope that the vaccines to Moscow will come to Moscow more and more until the end of the year, the maximum before the beginning of the next year, we will open 170 vaccination centers in Moscow and continue to increase their number,” says Rakova.

In Russia, more than two million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine have been produced or will be produced or will be produced or will be produced in the next few days, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the beginning of this week.

But the informed federal official and a source in the pharmaceutical industry informed Medusa that now in warehouses in Russia there are only about 500 thousand doses of the satellite V vaccine (with two components of the vaccine that a person needs to be injected with a difference of several weeks).

And if all the manufacturers have already debugged the first component of the vaccine, then there are still technological problems with the second, the sources of Medusa say in the industry and in one of the federal departments. Both components of the vaccine are a solution with particles of modified adenovirus containing genetic information for the production of one of the coronavirus proteins. At the same time, the first component is made on the basis of serotype adenovirus 26, and the second - serotype 5 adenovirus.

Now the “satellite V” in industrial volumes is produced by two companies - “General”, the owner of which is “Farmstandart”, and “Binnopharm”, which controls the AFK “System”. In the near future, they will be joined by the St. Petersburg company Biocad, which recently announced that in December it would produce about one million doses of the satellite V vaccine.

“The first dose of vaccines can now be made by all manufacturers, there are already several million doses - and you can make at least 10 million,” says the source of Medusa in the leadership of one of the companies producing the vaccine, “but the second dose is not enough, and now no one will say how much it is available.”

The second component of the vaccine turned out to be “more capricious” in production

During the tests of the Sputnik V vaccine, volunteers were first instilled with the first component of the vaccine, then the second-after 21 days, with an acceptable discrepancy no more than one or two days. But a source in the leadership of one of the vaccine manufacturers claims that now the concept has changed; When and on the basis of what, he did not specify.

“It turned out that it is not at all necessary to enter the second in exactly 21 days, or it is possible in the interval from 21 days to 50 days,” he says. -That is, you can make the first dose calmly for two or three months, and only then the second, because it is fixing. "

“Therefore, when the president announced that large -scale vaccination was beginning, he did not joke: the first dose is in sufficient quantities,” the source says. “To prove two million with the first dose until the end of the year is quite real.”

The second component of the vaccine turned out to be “more capricious” in production, says the interlocutor of Medusa: “With the second [dose], technological processes are being developed and installed additional equipment, which will be decided in a month and a half, and perhaps it will be stably produced not in such volumes, but in smaller ones. All our efforts are now focused on increasing the production of a second dose. ”

“It was simple, it was associated with the production of the second component, because there is another technology that requires,” the source of Medusa admits in the federal department. “This is quite natural, because we begin the production of a new biological drug.”

But the problems with the second component should be resolved in the near future, and until the end of 2020, two million satellite V vaccines will be released in Russia - as the president promised, the source said.

Medusa sent requests for the company producing the satellite V vaccine - “binnopharm”, “General” and Biocad - but by the time of publication of this material she did not receive answers.

The produced vaccine must also be checked for quality

According to the interlocutor of the "Medusa" in the farm, the problem is that the vaccine needs to not only be done, but also check its quality - only after that it can be introduced into civilian circulation, that is, it can be instilled with ordinary people, and not just volunteers who agreed to participate in tests.

Since the beginning of 2020, about 170 thousand doses of vaccines from all produced vaccines have been introduced into civilian circulation (another source in the industry confirmed this figure) - and he estimated the total production volume from 500 thousand to one million pieces. A source in one of the federal departments clarified that the figure introduced into circulation since the beginning of the year of vaccines, according to it, is up to 200 thousand.

According to the register of Roszdravnadzor, now in civilian circulation there are only the vaccines of the "Generalium" and the N.F. Gamaley - developer "Satellite V".

The interlocutor of Medusa in Farmotrasli believes that in December, about 500 thousand vaccines will enter the civilian circulation: “Talk about millions of doses in December - prematurely, they can be counted in January.”

In Russia, there are clinical trials of four more vaccines from Covid. Two domestic - “Epivaccorons”, developed in the Center Center, and the vaccine created by the Center named after M.P. Chumakova - and two foreign development: Cansino Biological and Astrazeneca. But when they end and when the mass production of these vaccines can begin, it is still unknown.

The head of Rospotrebnadzor Anna Popova stated in October that there were ten vaccines at the development stage in Russia.

"Moscow was given and explained something, but we have nothing"

If the capital nevertheless launches mass vaccination, in the regions they are only preparing for it - and they say that they do not have enough vaccine itself or all the information necessary for the start of mass vaccination.

“We have no information except public words. Only Moscow was given and explained something, but we have nothing, ”says the interlocutor of Medusa in the leadership of one of the northern regions of Russia. “Only on Monday, December 7, there will be a meeting with the Ministry of Health, where they promise to tell something.”

“About personal responsibility [about on Thursday, December 3, Prime Minister Mishustin spoke their governors already know, but for what to carry it,” he adds. - They [federal officials] cheerfully reported to the authorities that everything was cool, while there are problems with production. And officially yes, we have already defeated everyone and put the vaccine to the whole world. ”

According to him, 40 test doses of the Sputnik V vaccine were sent to the region in September to vaccinate doctors, in November they promised "at least 500, did not give anything." “We know how to store it, we purchased equipment. But there is no vaccine, ”says the interlocutor of Medusa.

A source in the leadership of the Novosibirsk region says that they also have no clarity with the number of doses of the vaccine for the region. The interlocutor of Medusa in the administration of the Nizhny Novgorod region said that so far 240 people were vaccinated in the region, the second batch of the vaccine is waiting on December 7. How many doses will be in the new party, he did not specify.

Authors: Farida Rustamova , Svetlana Reuters and Anastasia Yakreva with the participation of Andrei Pertsev

Editor: Valery Igumenov