India welcomes Sputnik V as third weapon against COVID-19

Amid rising coronavirus cases, there comes better news as India welcomes the Russian vaccine Sputnik V and the first shot be delivered to a patient in Hyderabad on Friday. The vaccine was launched into the Indian domestic market by the Indian pharma major Dr. Reddy’s laboratories on Friday.

The doses of the imported vaccines are costed (as of now) at Rs 995.40 (Rs 948+ 5% GST) per dose. Probability is been noted that the vaccine rates shall go low as soon as the Indian pharmaceuticals commence their production.

 How much the vaccines cost?

The vaccine prices are decided to take into account its import charges, logistics, and distribution cost.

Dr. Reddy’s is a major marketing partner for the Russian vaccine in India in a statement said “As a part of a limited pilot, the soft launch has commenced and the first dose was administered in Hyderabad.”

As a major partner, the RDIF has committed to supply 100 million doses of Sputnik V to India (Dr. Reddy’s).

To conduct clinical trials in India the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) partnered with Dr. Reddy’s in September 2020.

He added that a consignment of 1.50 lakh doses have been imported earlier this month.

As the Russian vaccine, Sputnik V got clearance from the Central drug laboratory in Kasauli on Thursday. The emergency use Authorization was given to the vaccine on April 13 this year by the Drugs Controller General of India. With the clearance, it becomes the third vaccine to be administered to the citizenry to help India fight against the battle of Covid-19. The prime two weapons are Covishield by Serum Institute of India and Covaxin by Bharat Biotech.

The Russian vaccine after being tested in India proved to be 91.6% efficient in battling against the Chinese virus.

How does the vaccine work?

As per the reports of The Indian Express, the vaccine developed by Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Moscow, uses two different viruses that can cause the common cold (adenovirus) in humans.

The adenovirus is weakened so it cannot replicate in humans and cannot cause disease. They are also modified so that the vaccine delivers a code for making coronavirus spike protein. This aims to ensure that when the real virus tries to infect the body, it can mount an immune response in the form of antibodies.

For the vaccine, it is advised to preserve it in minus 18 degrees C. looking at the Indian climate and shortage of the cold storages the company asserted “We will begin with Metros and Tier 1 cities and scale up to the rest of India.”

In comparison to the price of Sputnik V, the charges priced in the global market by the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) hovered about $10.

As per the reports of The Hindu, the Co-Chairman and Managing Director G.V Prasad said “We are prioritizing our efforts to launch Sputnik V vaccine across India.” He further added that Dr. Reddy’s were already in talks with six other manufactures to carry out the domestic production of it and with the state govt for the vaccine offtake.

Describing the future road map of 8-12 months the company said they visualize inoculating 125 million of the Indian population, with about 15-20% of the requirement coming from Russia. The next consignment to be delivered to India is likely in the upcoming months as they quoted “Further consignments of imported doses are expected over the upcoming months. Subsequently, supply of Sputnik V vaccine will commence from Indian manufacturing partners.”

They further expressed they expect 36 million doses to be availed over the next two months. Even some plans showcase the probability of bringing the single-dose vaccine Sputnik Light in India.

[author title=”Shreya Gohel” image=”http://localhost/gc2/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/20210127_014031.jpg”]Intern, Goa Chronicle[/author]

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