MOSCOW, Janu 16, 2022 (BSS/TASS) - Russia's Sputnik V anti-coronavirus
vaccine has proven a good level of efficacy against the omicron variant of
the novel coronavirus, Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) head Kirill
Dmitriev was quoted as saying in the vaccine's Twitter account on Saturday.

   "You need to make sure vaccine works against current and future mutations.
In that regard Sputnik platform is doing very well, showing good virus
neutralization against Omicron," Dmitriev said in a BBC interview.

   In his words, booster vaccines, such as Sputnik Light, as well as
combinations of existing vaccines are extremely important in the fight
against emerging variants of the novel coronavirus.

   On November 26, the World Health Organization (WHO) designated the
B.1.1.529 variant identified in South Africa as a "Variant of Concern" and
assigned it the Greek letter omicron. In its statement, the WHO noted that
"this variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning."
To date, as many as 783 Omicron cases have been identified in Russia.