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DISINFO: Sputnik V is more effective against “Omicron” than Pfizer

DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS

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coronavirus Sputnik V vaccination

DISINFO: Sputnik V is more effective against “Omicron” than Pfizer

SUMMARY

Vaccines developed based on the adenovirus vector platform, including Sputnik V, show higher efficacy against the new COVID-19 strain (Omicron) than mRNA vaccines such as Pfizer/BioNTech.

RESPONSE

A misleading claim that aims to discredit the efficacy of vaccines against COVID-19 produced by Western pharmaceutical companies.

Although it is true that the mRNA vaccines may not be as efficient against the Omicron variant as they have been against previous variants like Delta, this does not make the Sputnik V vaccine more efficient. The World Health Organisation (WHO) is working with technical partners to understand the potential impact of this variant on current vaccines, in a time where vaccines remain critical to reducing severe disease and death.

The manufacturers of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine said (on 26 November) it will know in two weeks whether its current vaccine, without an updated version, is likely to be sufficiently effective against the Omicron, based on lab-based experiments. At the moment, concerns about a decline in protection are theoretically based on the very high number of mutations – double that seen in Delta – on the spike protein that the vaccine targets.

Read similar cases in our database claiming that Sputnik V is more efficient than mRNA vaccines, or that the campaign to discredit and denigrate the Sputnik V vaccine is funded by foreign states, or that Recognition of Sputnik V is being delayed purely for political reasons.

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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