India to export ‘desi’ Sputnik doses to Russia

India has allowed export of around 40 lakh doses of domestically-manufactured coronavirus vaccine 'Sputnik Light' to Russia, sources said on Sunday. Sputnik Light - the single-dose Covid-19 vaccine variant of Russia's Sputnik has not yet been approved for emergency use in India.

Hetero and Dr Reddy's Laboratories, the Indian partner of Russian sovereign wealth fund RDIF, markets the Sputnik range of vaccines globally.

There were various view points among Indian experts about the single-dose vaccine's efficacy on Indians.

In Septemeber, the Drugs Controller General of India had granted permission for the conducting Phase 3 bridging trials of Sputnik Light on the Indian population.

The nod comes after a recent study published in the medical journal The Lancet said that Sputnik Light showed 78.6 to 83.7 per cent efficacy against Covid-19, significantly higher than most two-shot vaccines. The Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation's Subject Expert Committee had, in July, denied grant of emergency use authorisation to Sputnik Light, stressing need to Phase 3 trial of the Russian vaccine in the country.