San Marino Confirms Sputnik V Vaccine's Efficacy

The Ministry of Health of San Marino confirmed on September 2, 2021, the high efficacy of the Sputnik V vaccine in the country, including against new SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus variants.

Overall efficacy over 21 days after administering the first dose of Sputnik V was estimated at 94.8%.

Furthermore, vaccine efficacy against hospitalizations was estimated at 95.9%. Sputnik V is the most efficient vaccine against hospitalizations with COVID-19 in the country, stated a related press release.

The efficacy of Sputnik V was measured based on the monitoring of COVID cases between February 25 and August 23, 2021.

Over 70% of San Marino's adult population has been vaccinated with the Sputnik V vaccine. San Marino was one of the initial countries in Europe to include Sputnik V in the national immunization portfolio. Serbia launched its Sputnik V vaccination campaign on December 30, 2020, then Hungary on January 22nd.

The country of San Marino is situated on the Italian Peninsula on the north-eastern side of the Apennine Mountains. Life expectancy at birth in San Marion is higher than European averages.

In aggregate, the RDIF reports 70 countries are deploying the Sputnik V vaccine as of September 3, 2021.

Note: A non-peer-reviewed study in Argentina published on August 25, 2021, found the protection against coronavirus infection increased over 6 months following Sputnik V vaccination. The researcher's observations suggest that protection increases following vaccination due to antibody maturation, resulting in improved potency of antibodies to viral escape mutations.

The analysis indicates that while anti-spike IgG levels significantly wane over time, the neutralizing potency to the first-wave linages of SARS-CoV-2 and variants increases within four months of vaccination, suggesting that antibody maturation occurs.

This increase was more evident for the Beta and Gamma variants, which showed the highest propensity for neutralization escape.