Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine: Know the price, efficacy and side effects

Dr Reddy's Laboratories announced on Tuesday that the Indian drug regulator had approved the limited emergency use of COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik in the region. The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has given the company permission to import the Sputnik vaccine into India for limited use in emergency situations. Read on to know about the Sputnik V price, efficacy and side effects.

Sputnik V in India

The Russian vaccine Sputnik V has been approved for use in India by the DCGI (Drugs Controller General of India), but the government is yet to decide on the price at which the vaccine will be made available. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is yet to reach an agreement on a price.

Sputnik V Efficacy and Sputnik V Side Effects

In a phase 3 trial, the Sputnik V vaccine showed 91.6 per cent efficacy with no significant side effects. There is currently a scarcity of knowledge about rare, potentially life-threatening side effects, such as in rare pre-existing conditions or certain risk categories, such as allergy sufferers. Such side effects are only discovered after a large number of people have been vaccinated and after a longer duration of the study. 

According to TASS, Alexander Ginzburg, the Director of the Gamaleya Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology, stated that 5% of those who receive the SPUTNIK V vaccine experience redness around the injection site and a mild headache that goes away within 24 hours. Other than this there are no other side effects from this vaccine as of now so no precautions need to be taken. 

This information comes from an interim review of data released on February 2, 2021, in The Lancet journal. It was gathered from the findings of 20,000 participants in a trial. The adenovirus-based vaccine was given to 3/4 of them in a two-dose regimen, while the rest were given a placebo. Serious adverse effects, including those requiring hospitalisation, were uncommon in both the placebo and vaccine categories, and none were linked to vaccination.

In other countries, the Sputnik V vaccine is currently being sold for about $10 per dose. So far, the pricing has been consistent in all countries. 60 nations, including India, have signed up to receive the vaccine, and some have already started distributing it. Sputnik V coronavirus vaccines, imported from Russia, will be available from Dr Reddy's Laboratories starting in May. As India's vaccine production ramps up, the drug giant will switch to locally sourced vaccines.

Russia, Belarus, Argentina, Bolivia, Serbia, Algeria, Palestine, Venezuela, Paraguay, Turkmenistan, Hungary, UAE, Iran, Republic of Guinea, Tunisia, Armenia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Republika Srpska (the entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina), Lebanon, Myanmar, Pakistan, Mongolia, Bahrain, Montenegro, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Gabon, San-Marino, Ghana, Syria, Kyrgyzstan, Guyana, Egypt, Honduras, Guatemala, Moldova, Slovakia, Angola, Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Sri Lanka, Laos, Iraq, North Macedonia, Kenya, Morocco, Jordan, Namibia, Azerbaijan, Philippines, Cameroon, Seychelles, Mauritius, Vietnam, Antigua and Barbuda and Mali are countries that have approved Sputnik V.

Image Source: Shutterstock