Russia’s Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V will be in the market from next week: Centre

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) declared on Thursday that Russian vaccine developed by Russia’s Gamaleya National Center, Sputnik V, to combat the Covid-19 pandemic will be launched in the Indian market early next week.

The announcement was made amid a press briefing of the health ministry over Covid-19, by Dr VK Paul, member of NITI Aayog. He also mentioned that the local production of Sputnik V, the world’s first vaccine registered against the viral disease, will commence in July, which will be manufactured by Dr Reddy’s Laboratories.

Earlier, in April, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had given emergency use authorization approval for Sputnik V with a surge in the cases of Covid-19. Sputnik V is the third vaccine which will be administered along with the Covishield developed by Serum Institute of India and Covaxin developed by Bharat Biotech.

Last year, on August 11, Sputnik V vaccine was granted approval having an efficacy of 91.6 per cent, and was published in Lancet Medical Journal. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) formalized a deal for producing 750 million doses of Sputnik V in India.