COVID-19: India to soon get 1st single-dose Sputnik Light vaccine
Dr Reddy is working with Russian partners to get one-doseSputnik Light vaccine approved in India
Hyderabad-based pharma giant Dr Reddy’s Laboratories is working on getting regulatory approval for India’s first single-dose COVID-19 vaccine in partnership with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF). As per media reports, Russia’s Sputnik Light could be the first single-dose COVID-19 vaccine to be launched in India. It is important to note that the Sputnik Light vaccine is currently undergoing clinical trials and data analysis in Russia.
Speaking at a virtual conference recently, RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev expressed hope in introducing the Sputnik Light COVID-19 vaccine in India in the coming weeks. As of now, the only single-dose vaccine available in the global market is made by Johnson & Johnson.
In an interview with NDTV, Dr Reddy’s CEO Deepak Sapra underlined that the company is closely working with its partners in Russia and the Gamaleya Institute to roll out the vaccine as soon as possible. “The Sputnik Light has already been approved in Russia. It demonstrated efficacy of 79.4 percent. This is a single-shot vaccine,” Deepak Sapra told NDTV.
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He affirmed that a second dose of the Sputnik Light vaccine would increase its efficacy to up to 91.6 percent. As of now, Dr Reddy’s and its Russian partners are working out and assessing the data to ensure safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine.
Last week, Niti Aayog member VK Paul had stated that the Centre is examining the data and immunogenicity of Russia’s Sputnik Light vaccine to safeguard from the novel Coronavirus disease. “Single-dose vaccines can increase the speed of vaccination, but the merit and the processing of their request, as and when it comes, will be based on scientific data and information,” he said during a press conference
The pharma giant launched the two-dose Sputnik V vaccine in India on Fridayat a price of Rs 995 per dose. Reportedly, it will be rolled out at only 35 centres across the country for now. Speaking about India’s vaccination drive, Dr Reddy’s Co-Chairman and Managing Director GV Prasad noted that the vaccine is the most effective tool in the ongoing fight against the COVID-19 virus amid rising cases of infection.
While the first shipment of Sputnik V vaccines imported from Russia on May 1 is ready to be administered to the public, the second batch will be arriving in India in the coming days. In addition, Dr Reddy’s is working with a number of local manufacturing partners to boost vaccine production for commercial use.
Currently, the Indian healthcare sector is administering two COVID-19 vaccines as part of its inoculation drive – Serum Institute’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin. Sputnik V vaccine is the third vaccine to be used against COVID-19 in the country. It has an efficacy of 91.6%, which is reportedly higher than both Covishied and Covaxin.
According to official government figures, India has vaccinated a little over 2.9 percent of its population of 1.35 billion as of Friday.
