As India battles the second wave of coronavirus, the first consignment of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccines arrived in Hyderabad. India is currently using two vaccines including Covishield and Covaxin. Russia’s Sputnik V is going to be the third Covid vaccine which will be administered to the people.
Another three million doses of the Russian vaccine are scheduled to arrive this month. The vaccines will be delivered to Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, which has joined hands with Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to produce Sputnik V in India. Russian Ambassador to India Nikolay Kudashev tweeted, “Happy to share that the first batch of the #SputnikV vaccine delivered in Hyderabad! As #RussiaIndia continue dedicated joint efforts to combat the #COVID19, this move is especially important to support the Indian Government’s endeavors to mitigate deadly 2nd wave & save lives.” A couple of weeks ago, Pharma major Dr Reddy’s said it has received regulatory approval for emergency use of Sputnik V, which will be imported from Russia, paving the way for the third COVID vaccine in India.
The Russian Direct Investment Fund said more than 850 million doses of Sputnik V are going to be produced annually in India — the 60th country to approve the vaccine.
