The government has recommended the use of Sputnik V, the vaccine developed by Russia, on Monday. Now, the Drug Controller General of India will take a decision on its approval for emergency use authorisation, Sputnik V will be India’s third vaccine against coronavirus. The first two are Covishield and Covaxin.
The Russia Direct Investment Fund has partnered with Hyderabad based pharmaceutical company Dr Reddy’s laboratories for its local production. The company had sought for government’s regulatory approval last week.
The decision to clear the vaccine candidate for emergency nod comes as DCGI Subject Expert Committee (SEC) met today to take up Sputnik V application. DCGI will now consider SEC recommendation for the third Covid vaccine to be available in India amid vaccine shortage.
Developed by Russia’s Gamaleya Institute, Sputnik V also follows two-day regime. It costs less than $10 for each shot in international markets. Vaccination programme in India is being carried out free of cost.
Currently, the Sputnik-V trials are being conducted on around 1,600 volunteers between 18 and 99.
Notably, Sputnik V was cleared for public use by the Russian Government in August last year, making it the first approved vaccine against novel coronavirus in the world.
This comes amid steep rise in India’s daily covid-19 cases. The country has been reporting over 1 lakh days for one week, which is the highest daily surge of coronavirus cases in any part of the world.