Russia Claims It’s One-Upped Pfizer With 92 Percent Effective Coronavirus Vaccine
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On Monday, Pfizer made the joyous announcement that its coronavirus vaccine has been found to be more than 90 percent effective in preliminary trials. Not to be outdone, Russia claimed Wednesday that its vaccine is just a little bit better. According to the country’s sovereign wealth fund, Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine is 92 percent effective at protecting people from COVID-19. Its results are based on data from the first 16,000 trial participants to receive both shots of the two-dose vaccine, according to the Russian Direct Investment Fund, which has been financing the effort. However, not much is known about the Russian trial, so it’s difficult international experts to verify Russia’s claims. Danny Altmann, a professor of Immunology at Imperial College London, told Reuters: “It’s so very hard to comment, because there is so little data there.”