The Bacolod City government rolled out the Sputnik V vaccine on Wednesday, November 10, at the Ayala Malls Capitol Central vaccination site.

Executive Director Em Ang of the Emergency Operations Center(EOC)-Task Force 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 to recipients who lined up early to avail of the jabs.

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

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

Sputnik V is the world’s first registered vaccine based on a well-studied human adenovirus 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 2-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% overall vaccine efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19, 21 days after the first dose. It has 100% vaccine efficacy against moderate and severe cases, 21 days after the first dose./WDJ