Because that’s not how it works. At all.
Sputnik V vaccine
The way this works is the firm that made the vaccine, in this case the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, needs to run a series of trials to ensure the vaccine is safe (phase I), that it may be effective (phase II) and that it actually reduces the number of infections in a vaccinated population as compared to a placebo (phase III). After that the firm needs to ask for regulatory approval and it’s only at that point any official action is taken at all.
The Russian manufacturer never finished phase III trials. Russia simply approved the vaccine without the necessary trials and didn’t bother asking for approval in the West, it would never be granted anyway.
To give you some impression how stringent the requirements are: AstraZeneca vaccine didn’t get emergency approval, because there was a slight discrepancy in the data and the vaccine was 70% effective in one regimen and 90% effective in another. The manufacturer didn’t have enough phase III information to claim either of those two numbers were correct so the approval was not granted, it was required to continue studying the effects until it was able to show how effective the vaccine was. Either of the two numbers would be good enough though. Now imagine winning approval without that data at all.
Sputnik V is scheduled to finish stage III trials around May 2021. If it’s any good it is welcome to apply once the manufacturer can meet the minimum requirements for approval.
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