THE Bacolod City Government has started its rollout of the Sputnik V vaccine at the Ayala Malls Capitol Central vaccination site on Wednesday, November 10, 2021.

Emergency Operations Center-Task Force Executive Director Em Legaspi-Ang said the Sputnik V supply came from the national government.

Dr. Edwin Miraflor Jr., officer-in-charge of the City Health Office, and Dr. Chris Sorongon, EOC deputy for medical, data analysis and management, administered the vaccines themselves to recipients.

The national government delivered a total of 10,000 doses of the Sputnik V from Russia’s Gamaleya Institute to Bacolod City, Mayor Evelio Leonardia said.

Only local government units (LGUs) that meet the storage and handling requirements for Sputnik V vaccines, which is negative 18 degrees Celsius, were given the vaccines, Ang explained.

Sputnik V is the world’s first registered vaccine based on a well-studied human adenoviral vector platform.

The vaccine is named after the first Soviet space satellite. The launch of Sputnik-1 in 1957 reinvigorated space research around the world, creating a so-called “Sputnik moment” for the global community.

Sputnik V is a non-replicating viral vector vaccine two-dose regimen given 21 to 42 days apart.

It is one of the three vaccines in the world with an efficacy of over 90 percent, studies indicated.

The vaccine’s efficacy was validated by internationally peer-reviewed data published in The Lancet.

Clinical studies conducted on the vaccine have shown 91.6-percent overall vaccine efficacy against symptomatic Covid-19, 21 days after the first dose.

It has 100-percent vaccine efficacy against moderate and severe cases, 21 days after the first dose.

Sputnik V has been granted Emergency Use Authorization by the Philippines’ Food and Drug Administration on March 19, 2021. (PR)