As India struggles with the second wave of Covid-19 and vaccine shortages, the expert committee of India’s drug panel approves the emergency use of Russia’s Sputnik V Covid -19 vaccine on Monday.
The vaccine would be imported from Russia to the country for emergency use, the committee said.
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI)’s Subject Expert Committee (SEC) met on Monday to take up Sputnik V’s application for Emergency Use Authorisation in India.
If given the go ahead by DCGI, Sputnik will become the third vaccine to be used in the country after Covishield and Covaxin.
Russion Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has collaborated with a number of Indian pharmaceutical companies like Panacea Biotec, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories and Gland Pharma for the production of the vaccine doses.
Dr.Reddy’s in partnership with RDIF has been conducting small clinical trials with Sputnik V in India since last September. Several companies have signed deals to produce half a billion doses of the vaccine.
Efficacy of Sputnik V
The interim results of the phase III clinical trials, which included 19,886 volunteers from Russia, shows that the vaccine has 91.6 per cent efficacy. And experts also say that Sputnik V has same level of efficacy for all age groups.
Alexander Gintsburg, the head of the Gamaleya Research Institute that developed the vaccine, was quoted saying,
“Among those four to six vaccines that have entered mass circulation worldwide, Sputnik V apparently ranks the first in terms of its qualities.”
Meanwhile, 10,45,28,565 vaccine doses have been administered in India till now.
On Sunday, a government source was quoted saying to ANI that by the end of the third quarter, India will be getting vaccines from five more additional manufacturers.
“India currently has 2 COVID-19 vaccines being manufactured locally: Covishield and Covaxin, and we can expect five more vaccines by Q3 2021. These vaccines are Sputnik V vaccine (in collaboration with Dr. Reddy’s), Johnson & Johnson vaccine (in collaboration with Biological E), Novavax vaccine (in collaboration with Serum India), Zydus Cadila’s vaccine, and Bharat Biotech’s Intranasal Vaccine. Safety and efficacy are the Union government’s primary concerns while granting emergency use authorisation (EUA) to any COVID-19 vaccine in the country.”
ANI was quoted saying.
