GOV’T ON SPUTNIK V VACCINE

[Anchor Lead]

The Korean government says it's only considering using the Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V. The Russian vaccine has drawn attention as Plan B for diversifying vaccine supply.

[Pkg]

Back in August, Russia became the world's first to approve a COVID-19 vaccine, dubbed the Sputnik V. Its development used technology similar to that of the AstraZeneca vaccine. Sputnik V works by inserting the coronavirus gene into an adenovirus that acts as a delivering vehicle. Like the Pfizer vaccine, it's administered twice with a three-week interval in between the shots. Sputnik V uses two different human adenoviruses.

[Soundbite] Song Man-ki(Intl Vaccine Institute) : "A vaccine works only when a virus permeates the body cells and makes a protein. The amount of the virus decreases significantly in the process. It's important to use two different viruses."

The Russian vaccine caused a controversy at first, because it was approved after only two clinical trials. However, it stole the spotlight after the international medical journal The Lancet published the results of the third clinical trial in February. It showed Sputnik V's efficacy to be as high as 91.6 percent. More than 60 countries have approved the use of Sputnik V so far. The European Medicines Agency began deliberation early this month. More than 7 million people have been vaccinated in Russia as of March this year. But side effects have not been disclosed or tallied transparently, thus causing delays in the vaccine's introduction in other countries.

[Soundbite] Kim Jae-wook(Intl Vaccine Institute) : "There are still concerns about whether the vaccine's side effects are being reported properly and whether it's safe enough."

Experts point out that Sputnik V's safety must be verified thoroughly, as it's similar to the AstraZeneca and Janssen vaccines, which are known to cause rare but evident blood clots.