South Africa Declines Sputnik COVID-19 Vaccine Approval Over HIV Infection Risk

Sputnik V Vaccine

 

Link to the source article >> https://healthpolicy-watch.org/south-africa-declines-sputnik-covid-vaccine-approval-over-hiv-fears/

South Africa has decided not to grant approval to Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine as there is a risk that it might make vaccinated men more vulnerable to HIV infection, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) announced on Monday.

SAPHRA’s caution stems from fact that Sputnik uses an Adenovirus Type 5 (Ad5) vector as one of the delivery mechanisms for its vaccine.

A few years back, two trials of a candidate vaccine for HIV that also used an Ad5 vector were found to make men more susceptible to HIV infection.

After the two HIV vaccine trials – called STEP and Phambili – were abandoned, researchers concluded during follow-up that men with “pre-existing Ad-specific neutralising antibodies” were particularly vulnerable to HIV infection after being vaccinated.

Sputnik uses two different adenovirus vectors to deliver each of its two-dose COVID-19 vaccine, Adenovirus Type 26 (Ad26) for the first dose and Ad5 for the second.

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