'Will strengthen the commercial roll-out of Sputnik V in coming weeks': Dr. Reddy's

As the country gears up to vaccinate its population, Dr. Reddy's on Monday, July 11, has released a statement on the update of the Sputnik V's soft commercial launch. Dr. Reddy's Laboratories stated, "We will strengthen the commercial roll-out of Sputnik V in the coming weeks. Neither the ongoing soft commercial launch nor work towards its ramp-up in India have been put on hold". 

Sputnik V launched in many cities across India

Sputnik V vaccine was initially launched only in Hyderabad. But now it has extended to many cities and towns across India including Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, Miryalaguda, Guwahati, Ratlam, Kanpur, Mysore, and more.

On June 16, Dr. Reddy’s, Sputnik V's local distribution partner, in a statement said that the project launch of the Russian COVID vaccine Sputnik V has been extended to nine other cities including Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Baddi, Kolhapur, and Miryalaguda.

On May 17, the pilot program for Sputnik was launched by Dr. Reddy’s in collaboration with Apollo Hospitals, after it received clearance from the drug regulator for emergency use in April. On May 15 under the pilot launch, the first dose of the vaccine was administered in Hyderabad. 

Efficacy of Sputnik V

Sputnik V is the first registered COVID vaccine in the world. So far, the vaccine is registered in more than 65 countries. According to the analysis of data from 3.8 million vaccinated persons in Russia, Sputnik V has demonstrated 97.6 per cent efficacy. According to the recent updates, the Russian vaccine has a high efficacy rate of 91.6 per cent against the Coronavirus. As per the Centre’s pricing schedule, it will be priced at Rs 1,145, including hospital charges and tax. 

On June 10, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), announced that the efficacy of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine during a vaccination campaign by Bahrain's Ministry of Health was estimated to be at 94.3 per cent.

Vaccination drive in India

To date, India has administered a total of 37,63,68,512 COVID vaccine doses across 22,898 vaccination sites. 

A total of 38,27,76,228 have registered for the vaccination of which 18,98,68,974 are above 18 years of age and 19,29,07,254 are 45 years and above. 

(Image credit: PTI/REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE)