Move to seek public approval for single jab of Sputnik V in Kandy sparks anger

By Darshana Abayasingha

A move by the Ministry of Health seeking the public’s consent for the provision of a single dose of the Sputnik V vaccine, as opposed to the recommended two doses, sparked anger during an inoculation program in Kandy yesterday, health sources allege.

The Sputnik V vaccine, alongside the Oxford AstraZeneca and Sinopharm vaccines, all of which are currently in use in Sri Lanka, require two shots, with the second shot serving as a booster. However, in the latest controversy surrounding Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 vaccination drive, the Ministry of Health has courted further debate by moving to inoculate the public with just a single dose of the 50,000 Sputnik V vaccines in the country. 

The registration and certification documents given for filling and signing by the public in Kandy stated in Sinhala: “I am agreeable even to take only the first dose of Sputnik V vaccine.”

Association of Medical Specialists President Dr. Lak Kumar Fernando when contacted by the Daily FT castigated the move and remarked that the Ministry of Health is now often found “planning to fail, and always choosing the worst of available options.” 

Explaining his position, Dr. Fernando revealed that the National Medicines Regulatory Authority (NMRA) is yet to approve the single use of the Sputnik V vaccine, as no available data to that effect has been offered by the manufacturer or through any other research.  

He revealed that the producer of the Sputnik vaccine is looking into introduce Sputnik Lite, a single shot vaccine with similar characteristics to Sputnik V – there is still insufficient data submitted on the jab. The NMRA is yet to provide any approvals for Sputnik Lite or the single use of Sputnik V as a result. 

Accordingly, the Ministry of Health and the Director General of Health moving to offer a single dose of Sputnik V and getting the public to give consent has been done without regulatory approval, said Dr. Fernando, adding: “The precedent it creates is very wrong and immoral.”  

He assumed that the Health Ministry had offered false promises to politicians in the Central Province on vaccination and are now obliged to meet them employing the existing Sputnik V dose. He added that there is no science behind this move and that there is uncertainty as to whether Sputnik is suitable to be a single dose shot as there is no data supporting it.

However, using the existing 50,000 Sputnik V doses poses another challenge, according to Dr. Fernando, who remarked that due to the uncertainty that prevails over the arrival of another batch of AstraZeneca vaccines to provide a second shot to those received the first shot, it would have been prudent to hold on to the Sputnik V doses, as these could have been used for the second shot as there are similarities between the Sputnik V and AstraZeneca vaccines. 

“Sputnik V can be used as a second dose for those who received the first AstraZeneca jab, with scientific reasoning. AstraZeneca is a vector vaccine using chimpanzee Adenovirus and the Sputnik V first dose is a viral vector vaccine using Adenovirus 26 – these have many similarities. It may be possible to use as a second dose for the booster shot as a ‘mix and match’.

“It definitely becomes an option in a desperate situation. This is important to consider as we don’t know if we will receive the second batch of AstraZeneca on time. If it doesn’t come by the end of 16 weeks, people who don’t have the booster shot will be close to people without having a vaccine, especially against the variants of concern, including the rapidly spreading British variant and already detected Indian variant. So, we could have provided them Sputnik V, but instead of waiting to consider the details, the Ministry of Health has gone ahead and utilised the doses,” Dr. Fernando said.

“Since the public started receiving Astra Zeneca by mid-February, by mid-June they will reach the critical 16 weeks. However, if we are to get AstraZeneca by then we should know it by the end of this week. Holding onto Sputnik till the end of this week would have been the wise thing to do. This is more so given the history that the delivery of Sputnik has been erratic and slow compared to Sinopharm. If more time lapses, we will end up needing a fresh vaccine with two more doses to the 600,000 waiting, which means an additional 600,000 at this time of shortage at more cost to the country.”