JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Namibia has stopped using Russia’s Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine following concerns expressed by neighboring South Africa, the health ministry said on Saturday.

Neighboring South Africa said earlier this week it would not endorse Sputnik V over concerns that it could increase the risk of HIV infection in men, a claim according to the vaccine developer is unfounded.

The Namibian Ministry of Health said in a statement that following South Africa’s decision, it was suspending, with immediate effect, the use of the injections until the formula was listed for use. emergency by the World Health Organization.

“The reason for stopping the administration of the vaccine is made out of excess of caution that men who have received Sputnik V may be at greater risk of contracting HIV when exposed to it,” the ministry said.

Namibia had received a Serbian donation of 30,000 doses of Sputnik – of which less than 120 have been administered so far.

The South African health products regulator said on Monday it would not allow the use of Sputnik based on previous studies testing the safety of a modified form of adenovirus – a type of virus that causes respiratory infections – known as Ad5 and contained in the jab.

The regulator said two previous studies, one in South Africa and one in the Americas, had found an increased risk of HIV infection in men linked to the Ad5 vector vaccine.

In both trials, “administration of an Ad5 vector vaccine was associated with increased susceptibility / acquisition of HIV in men,” the regulator said last week.

Russia’s Gamaleya center, which developed Sputnik V, says any claim of a link between the vaccine and HIV is unfounded.

He states that clinical studies on more than 7,000 participants have shown “that there was no statistically significant increase in HIV-1 infection in recipients of the type 5 adenovirus vector vaccine.” “.