Sputnik V to be out in market from next week, says Centre
Sputnik V was given emergency use authorisation by the DCGI in April amid an alarming rise in fresh Covid-19 cases
NEW DELHI The Union ministry of health and family welfare (MOHFW) announced on Thursday that Sputnik V, the vaccine against the coronavirus disease developed by Russia’s Gamaleya National Center, will be available in markets across the country from early next week.
Making the announcement at the health ministry’s press briefing on the Covid-19 situation in the country, Dr VK Paul, member, NITI Aayog, further said the local production of Sputnik V, often called the world’s first vaccine against the viral disease, will begin in July. Hyderabad-based Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories will manufacture the vaccine in India.
“Sputnik vaccine has arrived in India. I’m happy to say that we’re hopeful that it’ll be available in the market next week. We’re hopeful that the sale of the limited supply that has come from there (Russia) will begin next week, said Dr Paul while addressing media.
He said the production of Sputnik is scheduled to begin in India by July. “Further supply will also follow. Its production will begin in July and it is estimated that 15.6 crore doses will be manufactured in that period,” Dr Paul said.
Sputnik V was given emergency use authorisation (EUA) by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) in April, amid an alarming rise in the country’s fresh Covid-19 infections. It will be the third vaccine, shots of which will be administered in India. The other two shots are Covishield and Covaxin. Punebased Serum Institute of India (SII) is manufacturing the Oxford University-astrazeneca shot as “Covishield” while Bharat Biotech International Limited, also located in Hyderabad, has developed Covaxin.
The Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine was first approved in Russia on August 11 last year. With an efficacy of 91.6%, as published in the Lancet Medical Journal, the vaccine has been cleared and approved for mass use in more than 50 countries. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has signed a deal to produce 750 million doses of Sputnik V in India.
According to the health ministry’s dashboard on Thursday morning, 177,214,256 vaccine doses have been administered across the country thus far, including 1,894,991 in the preceding 24 hours.
Talking about the Central government’s move to increase the availability of COVID-19 vaccines, the NITI Aayog member said that overall, 216 crore doses of vaccines will be manufactured in India between August and December - “for India and for Indians”.
“There should be no doubt that vaccine will be available for all as we move forward...any vaccine that is approved by
FDA, WHO can come to India. Import license will be granted within 1-2 days. No import license is pending,” he added.
He further informed that the Department of Biotechnology, along with other concerned departments and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has been in touch with Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson and Johnson from the initial days of vaccine production.
“They were officially asked if they would like to send doses to or manufacture in India. We will find partners and assist. They had said that they are working in their own way and they would talk of vaccine availability in the third quarter in 2021. We are connected to them. I’m hopeful that they will step forward to increase availability in India. We invite them to manufacture here along with our companies. Johnson and Johnson did a good job. They accepted this offer under Quad,” Dr Paul said. He added that nearly 18 crore doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in India.
“In the US, the number stands around 26 crores. So, India stands in the third position. We are happy to report that one-third of 45 and above are protected. 45 and above age group contributes to 88 per cent of deaths. So you can imagine, how many dents it would have made to reduce the risk of death of this population,” the NITI Aayog member added.
Dr Paul also informed that Bharat Biotech has welcomed the offer of other companies manufacturing Covaxin to increase its production. “People say that Covaxin should be given to other companies for manufacturing. I am happy to say that Covaxin manufacturing company (Bharat Biotech) has welcomed this when we discussed it with them. Under this vaccine, a live virus is inactivated and this is done only in BSL3 labs. Not every company has this. We give an open invitation to companies who want to do this...,” he said.