India Approves Sputnik V Covid-19 Vaccine, As Daily Cases Cross 170,000 Mark

Indian government has approved Russia¡¯s Sputnik-V for emergency use in India as more and more states flag shortage of Covid-19 vaccine doses.

Notably, the Sputnik V is the third Covid-19 vaccine to get the Indian government¡¯s nod after Bharat Biotech¡¯s Covaxin and Serum Institute of India¡¯s Covishield.

Reuters

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The Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of the Indian drug regulator granted a restricted approval of the Sputnik-V vaccine following Dr Reddy's Laboratories¡¯ submission last week. The Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company had partnered with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) in September 2020 to conduct clinical trials of the vaccine in India.

Last year, Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Russia's sovereign wealth fund had confirmed that India would produce 30 crore Sputnik V vaccine doses in 2021. In an interview with TV channel Rossiya 24, Dmitriev said, "In India, we have agreements with four large manufacturers. India will produce about 300 million doses or more of the vaccine for us."

Besides Dr Reddy's, the RDIF has partnered with Hyderabad-based Virchow Biotech Private Limited to produce up to 200 million doses per year of Sputnik V in India. Last week, it announced a partnership with Panacea Biotec, one of India¡¯s leading vaccine and pharmaceutical producers, to produce another 100 million doses per year.

What¡¯s unique about Sputnik V

Sputnik V is being developed as a two-dose vaccine using two human recombinant adenovirus vectors--rAd5 and rAd26--known to cause respiratory infections. ¡°Vectors¡± can be understood as vehicles, which can transport a genetic material from another virus into a cell, when the vaccine is administered.

ALSO READ: India To Make 300 Million Doses Of Sputnik-V Russian Covid-19 Vaccine In 2021

The gene from adenovirus, which causes the infection, is replaced with a gene with the code of a protein from another virus spike. This inserted element is safe for the body but still helps the immune system to react and produce antibodies, which fight against the coronavirus.

Representational Image/BCCL

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The official website claims that the cost of one dose of the vaccine for international markets is less than $10 and can be stored at a temperature of +2 to +8 degrees Celsius, which allows for easy distribution worldwide, including hard-to-reach regions. Most adverse events (94%) associated with the Sputnik V vaccination were mild and included flu-like syndromes, injection site reactions, headache and asthenia.

Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine efficacy

Registered in more than 55 countries, Sputnik V has the highest effectiveness of 91.6 per cent after the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. The Sputnik V vaccine will be manufactured by Dr Reddy's in India and is currently in Phase 3 of clinical trials in India.

Reuters

According to WHO, the AstraZeneca-University of Oxford vaccine aka Covishield has an efficacy of 63.09 per cent against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, this efficacy soars up to 82 per cent if the second dose is given after over 12 weeks. The efficacy of Covaxin, which is currently being administered in clinical trial mode, is however not known.