Sputnik vaccine to be launched commercially ‘in the coming week’: Dr Reddy’s
Sputnik V vaccine is developed by Russia’s Gamaleya Institute with assistance from Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, Russian Direct Investment Fund, that is also marketing the vaccine globally
The Russian-made coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine, Sputnik V, could be commercially launched “in the coming week” in India as modalities to administer a large number of vaccine doses are currently being worked out, according to the company marketing the product in India. They added that the commercial launch has not been put on hold.
“The Sputnik V vaccine was launched on a soft pilot basis in India on May 14, 2021. Dr Reddy’s Laboratories will strengthen the commercial roll-out of Sputnik V in the coming week,” said Dr Reddy’s Laboratories in a statement issued on Tuesday.
“Neither the ongoing soft commercial launch nor work towards its ramp up in India has been put on hold,” added the statement from Dr Reddy’s Labs.
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Sputnik V vaccine is developed by Russia’s Gamaleya Institute with assistance from Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), that is also marketing the vaccine globally.
RDIF entered a partnership with Dr Reddy’s Labs to market the first 250 million doses of the Russian vaccine in India.
The vaccine is a two-dose shot (but two unidentical doses unlike other two-dose vaccines) that is 91.6% effective in preventing serious illness as was found in phase 3 clinical trials.
Starting initially in Hyderabad on May 14 this year, the soft launch roll-out of the Russian vaccine has been scaled up. The vaccine has been sent to at least 50 cities and towns across the country, with at least 100,000 doses having been administered so far.
The cities and towns where the vaccine is being currently administered include Vizag, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi-NCR, Chennai, Miryalaguda, Vijayawada, Baddi, Kolhapur, Kochi, Raipur, Chandigarh, Pune, Nagpur, Nashik, Coimbatore, Ranchi, Jaipur, Lucknow, Patna, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Palakkad, Allahabad, Dimapur, Kohima, Indore, Bhopal, Surat, Cuttack, Dharward, Ernakulam, Ratlam, Faridabad, Srinagar, Gandhinagar, Vadodara, Gulbarga, Madurai, Guntur, Kannur, Jabalpur, Jalandhar, Kanpur, and Mysore.
“Dr Reddy’s has partnered with major hospitals across the country for this purpose, all of whom have successfully administered Sputnik V in India, including ongoing commercial roll-outs to the public,” added Dr Reddy’s Labs.