Gintsburg not sure omicron would be end of pandemic

Those revaccinated with the Sputnik Light coronavirus vaccine have 100% protection against the Omicron strain within three months, Alexander Gintsburg, director of the Gamaleya Center, the vaccine’s developer, said.

"Seventy-five percent of those vaccinated [with Sputnik V] have virus-neutralizing antibodies to the Omicron strain. Serums from people revaccinated with Sputnik Light have virus-neutralizing antibodies within three months after receiving the booster jab in 100% of cases," he said in an interview with the Rossiya-1 television channel.

When asked whether Omicron could be the last strain of the coronavirus, Gintsburg said he is not sure it would be the end of the pandemic. "I wouldn’t say that this is the final stage [of the coronavirus pandemic], it would be wrong. While we are talking, numerous new COVID-19 variants are emerging. We are only fighting against the consequences, beginning to extinguish fire when it is already raging," he noted.