Hyderabad: The International airport in Hyderabad received the biggest commercial consignment of Sputnik-V vaccines on Tuesday early morning at 3:40 am with three million doses delivered to Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories.
This is the third batch and the single largest import shipment of COVID-19 vaccines handled by any Indian airport till date.
The vaccines will be later sent to different parts of the country as per the demands raised by the state governments. After COVISHIELD and COVAXIN, Sputnik-V will be the third COVID-19 vaccine that will be administered to the people.
Sputnik has tied up with Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories for manufacturing the vaccine in India. The first consignment of Sputnik had landed in India on May 1. However, the regulatory clearance from the Central Drugs Laboratory-Kasauli was given only on May 13.
On May 14, Dr. Reddy’s launched Sputnik V in the Indian market. The first dose was administered on the same day in Hyderabad. The pharma company said the imported doses of the vaccine were priced at a maximum retail price (MRP) of Rs 948. Combined with 5 percent, it costs Rs 995.4 per dose.
The government is also hopeful of a speedy launch of single-dose COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik Light and all stakeholders, including Russian manufacturer and its Indian partners have been directed to fast-track the application and regulatory approval procedures for the jab to boost the country’s vaccination drive.
Just like India-made COVISHIELD, which is AstraZeneca-Oxford’s COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik-V is also based on a modified version of a common cold virus. As per The Guardian report, Russia’s vaccine against the novel coronavirus is tailored in a way to carry genetic instructions for making the coronavirus spike protein and ‘triggers and immune response’ for protection against COVID-19.
