Sample of Omicron Not Needed To Adapt Vaccine Against COVID-19, Developer Says

It is possible to create a vaccine adapted to a new coronavirus variant without a sample of a new strain, including Omicron, if a nucleotide sequence of the virus is known, Director of the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology of the Russian Health Ministry Alexander Gintsburg said. Earlier, Head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev said that the developers of Russian Sputnik V and Sputnik Light vaccines against coronavirus would be able, if necessary, to deliver hundreds of millions of doses of vaccines adapted to the Omicron strain by the end of February 2022….