A Retrospective Study on the Gam-COVID-Vac (Sputnik V) COVID-19 Vaccine Short-Term Efficacy and Side Effects in Iranian Healthcare Providers

Background: the gam-covid-vac (sputnik v) covid-19 vaccine is one of the approved vaccines which has been used in iran. objectives: in the present retrospective study, we evaluated the short-term efficacy and side effects of the sputnik v vaccine against covid-19 in iranian healthcare providers. methods: healthcare workers referred to firoozgar hospital affiliated with the iran university of medical sciences, tehran, iran, between march 2021 and december 2021 were assessed. humoral immunity was evaluated against s-rbd igg of sars-cov2 after sputnik v vaccination at three phases, including days 60 (phase i), 120 (phase ii), and 210 (phase iii) by an anti-s rbd igg elisa kit. vaccine recipients were divided into two groups based on the history of sars-cov2 infection. the vaccine side effects were obtained from each participant after the first and second doses. results: a total of 65 vaccine recipients (41.5% male (27/65)) with a mean age of 35 ± 8.5 years were enrolled, of whom 41.5% had a history of covid-19 infection. the sars-cov-2 igg levels were significantly higher in vaccine recipients compared to those without a history of covid-19 infection a month (4 vs. 6.6), three months (4.5 vs. 7.2), and six months (3.8 vs. 5.9) after vaccination (p = 0.001). our study had 18 patients (27.7%) with vaccination breakthroughs. conclusions: sputnik v seems to induce high antibody levels after the second dose; however, protective antibodies declined six months after the second dose. a booster dose is highly recommended for at-risk individuals.