Bengaluru: The subject expert committee has approved the emergency usage of Sputnik V. 

Incidentally, it becomes the third vaccine – after Covaxin and Covishield – to be put in use if Drugs Controller General of India green-lights it. 

In India, it is produced by Dr Reddy’s. OpInida adds that Dr Reddy’s is a multinational pharmaceutical company based in Hyderabad, Telangana. 

Here are some traits of the new vaccine: 

1.    It has shown an efficacy of 91.6% efficacy in its Phase 3 trials.

2.    Sputnik-V is named after the world’s first satellite sent by the Soviet Union. It was developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology along with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).

3.    It can be stored at a temperature of 2 to 8 degree Celsius. The website adds that the vaccine is equally efficacious across all age groups. 

 

“Sputnik V demonstrated the same level of efficacy in all age groups. At first there were doubts that the efficacy in people aged 60 and over would be lower… but it was absolutely not,” Alexander Gintsburg, the head of the Gamaleya research institute, said, as quoted by OpIndia. 

India will be getting vaccines from five additional manufacturers, reports ANI. This is expected in the 3rd quarter of this year. 

Quoting a source, the agency added, "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".