Sputnik V becomes the world’s first COVID vaccine with proven efficacy for people living with HIV as demonstrated by a joint study between the Gamaleya Center and Moscow City Center for AIDS Prevention and Control published in The Lancet

Efficacy of Sputnik V is 79% against infection as confirmed by a retrospective cohort study analyzing data from more than 24,000 HIV+ patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART).

The Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), investor in Sputnik V and Sputnik Light vaccines, announced an article “Sputnik V protection from COVID-19 in people living with HIV under antiretroviral therapy” has been published by The Lancet leading medical journal showing that Sputnik V is the world’s first COVID vaccine with proven efficacy for people living with HIV.

The article is available at:

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(22)00090-6/fulltext#seccesectitle0013

The data presented are the first scientific results on the preventive efficacy of a COVID vaccine to protect against infection in people living with HIV (PLWH). Based on data from more than 24,000 HIV+ patients in Moscow on antiretroviral therapy (ART), Sputnik V’s efficacy was 79%.

The vaccine’s efficacy against hospitalization was more than 90%. Sputnik V is also more than 97% effective against development of moderate or severe disease among PLWH. The analysis was conducted by the Gamaleya Center and Moscow City Center for AIDS Prevention and Control.

Authors of the study also note that full immunization with Sputnik V in HIV+ patients receiving ART with counts CD4+ T-cell ≥ 350/µl resulted in a 3.3-fold reduction of COVID-19 infections compared with unvaccinated ones. In the subgroup of patients with a compromised immune function (CD4+ T cells < 350/µl), vaccination reduced the risk of COVID-19 by 2.5 times.

As the data by WHO had previously shown[1] that more than 23% of HIV+ people hospitalized with COVID, died, the study published in The Lancet suggests Sputnik V is the ultimate solution for vulnerable groups, including in high HIV-prevalence countries