Sputnik V safest among COVID-19 vaccines, no deaths: Argentina health ministry

The Buenos Aires investigation showed that the events supposedly attributable to vaccination or immunisation (ESAVI) were mostly mild and there were reports of fever (47 percent), headaches (45 percent), myalgias and arthralgias (39.5 percent), pain (46.5 percent) and swelling (7.4 percent) in the area where the vaccine was injected.

This study by Argentina’s was conducted to describe the ESAVI reported to the Integrated Argentine Health Information System (SIISA) after the application of Sputnik V vaccine in Buenos Aires. The campaign start day was June 3.

Nearly 2.8 million doses of the Russian vaccine were administered along with China’s Sinopharm at 1.3 million and AstraZeneca’s Covishield at 0.9 million. The study revealed that the severe ESAVI rate (product related) per million doses of Sputnik, Sinopharm and Covishield was 0.7, 0.8 and 3.2, respectively.

The investigation of each ESAVI is classified according to a series of categories established by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO).

Dismissing reports of WHO raising concerns over the filling of the Sputnik V vials at one plant, OJSC Pharmstandard-UfaVITA stated that the plant in question only pours the doses into vials (and is not involved in the manufacturing process) and WHO inspectors had focused on four technical issues related to the filling lines. The technical issues have promptly addressed and there were no concerns about the safety and efficacy of the produced and finished vaccine.