Moscow [Russia], September 24 (ANI): The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) on Friday announced the Russian single-component Sputnik Light vaccine against coronavirus has been approved by the Egyptian Drug Authority (EDA).

An official release stated that Sputnik Light vaccine is based on human adenovirus serotype 26 which is the first component of the Sputnik V vaccine. Immunization with Sputnik Light in Egypt will help to speed up the vaccination of the population and create herd immunity in a shorter time frame in the most populated country of the Middle East with over 100 mn people.

In February 2021, the two-dose Sputnik V vaccine was also approved in Egypt. Both Sputnik Light and Sputnik V vaccines have been approved by EDA under the emergency use authorization procedure.

Sputnik Light is safe and highly effective as demonstrated by real-world vaccination data in a number of countries. In particular, the data from the Ministry of Health of the Buenos Aires province (Argentina) shows 78.6-83.7% efficacy among the elderly. In Paraguay, Sputnik Light is 93.5% effective during the ongoing vaccination campaign according to the country's Ministry of Health.

According to the release, thanks to its safety and efficacy, the single-component Sputnik Light vaccine is now both used on a standalone basis and studied in combination with vaccines from other producers in a number of countries.

The heterogeneous boosting approach ("vaccine cocktail" using human adenovirus serotype 26 as the first component and human adenovirus serotype 5 as the second component) was at the core of Sputnik V, the world's first registered vaccine against coronavirus.

With this approach proving successful in creating a longer and more durable immunity against the coronavirus, RDIF took the lead in initiating partnerships with other vaccine producers to conduct joint studies on the combination of the first component of Sputnik V with other vaccines. (ANI)