Oxford to combine trials with Sputnik vaccine

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AstraZeneca has announced that will begin recruiting people aged 18 and over for trials combining the AstraZeneca and Oxford University vaccine with Russia's Sputnik V, produced by the Gamaleya Institute research facility in Moscow.

The aim is to see if this helps to boost people's immune response and improve protection from the virus.

The company told the BBC that the trials would be held in Russia, but it's not clear when they would start or how many people would be involved.

In a press release, AstraZeneca said: "Scientific collaboration with Gamaleya Research Institute is important to explore the potential of vaccine combinations unlocking synergies in protection and accessibility through a portfolio approach."

Any thoughts? I'm a bit unsure about the Russian vaccine...

My first thought was it would be a way to ensure the Russian people get a vaccine other than a state one.
At least this way people don't accidentally fall out of windows if they question the research on the state one.

My understanding is that both vaccines use a harmless (but different) virus, known as the postman, to carry the covid spike bit. The problem is that some people become immune to the postman virus after the first jab making the second jab useless, this may be why the half then full dose Oxford jab was better than two full doses. using these two different vaccines ensures that the second dose is delivered by a different postman virus that the patient is not immune to.