The Russian-made COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V is expected to be available from Tuesday at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in Delhi, as per reports. The vaccine is developed by Russia’s Gamaleya Institute. According to news agency ANI, the rollout of the vaccine will depend upon the number of consignments received by the hospitals.
Initially, the rollout of Sputnik V vaccine by Apollo Hospitals and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories commenced on pilot basis on May 17 in Hyderabad followed by Vishakhapatnam. The vaccine is also available Hyderabad’s Continental Hospitals.
Along with Apollo Hospitals, Madhukar rainbow Children’s Hospital in Delhi will also begin to allot Sputnik V COVID 19 jabs to people by the end of this week. The price of the vaccine is set at Rs.1,145 per dose.
ANI reported that on Sunday, Sputnik V was administered to the employees of Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories at Delhi’s Indraprastha Apollo Hospital. The report further stated that around 1000 doses of Sputnik V arrived the Apollo Hospital and among them 179 doses were given to the Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories employees.
High efficacy rate
Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories have associated with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) that globally markets the COVID-19 vaccine, for the roll out of the two dose vaccine in India. The vaccine is established by Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology . It is the world’s first registered vaccine against the COVID-19. In last August, the two dose vaccine was given regulatory approval in Moscow and as of now is authorized in 67 countries.
On April 12, the two dose Sputnik V vaccine received the Indian drug regulator’s permission for restricted emergency use under certain conditions. The vaccination drive with the Sputnik V vaccine commenced from May 14.
Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd had approached for permission to import and market Gam-COVID-Vac combined vector vaccine, popularly named Sputnik V, for Emergency use authorization.
Sputnik V is claimed to have the highest efficacy rate at 91.6 per cent while Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have an efficacy of around 90 per cent. On June 10, RDIF declared that the efficacy of Sputnik V vaccines was estimated at 94.3 per cent during a vaccination campaign by Bahrain’s ministry of Health. The World Health Organization has not approved Sputnik V as emergency vaccine as yet.
Sputnik Light
Sputnik Light is a single dose vaccine which is likely to be approved in India soon. Earlier in May, PTI reported that the government is expecting a speedy launch of COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik Light. The vaccine is a slimmed down single dose version of Sputnik V in India. It is anticipated that an application seeking regulatory approval for Sputnik Light will be filed in the following weeks. It is assumed to be the first single dose vaccine to be launched in India, once approved.
According to an analysis of data framed 28 days after the shot was administered as a part of Russia’s mass vaccination programme in between December 2020 to April 2021, the vaccine developers in a statement demonstrated that Sputnik V has an efficacy of around 79.4 per cent. The statement further stated that during laboratory test Sputnik Light it had a proven efficacy against all new strains of the virus.
It is expected that the utilization of Sputnik V in India will boost the country’s vaccination drive. As of now, the country has been capable of vaccinating 3 per cent of the population.
