"The Sputnik V vaccine will also be effective against the Indian mutation, because double vaccination with Sputnik V gives a high titre of protective immunoglobulins, even if the antigen is changed", Gintsburg said.
Earlier, scientists identified a new variant of coronavirus B.1.618 in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. This new coronavirus strain is a triple mutated strain and can spread faster, according to Indian professor of epidemiology Madhukar Pai. The new strain B.1.618 is the second line of coronavirus to be identified in India, the first being B.1.617, also known as the double mutation variant of the coronavirus.
In February, the peer-reviewed medical journal The Lancet published an interim analysis from Phase III trials of the Russian vaccine, showing its 91.6-percent efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19. The vaccine has already been approved in 60 countries, with a total population of about 3 billion.