Form of words:
New Delhi: Registered by Russia in August 2020, Sputnik V was the world’s first licensed COVID vaccine. In their initial communication, the makers of Sputnik V had said that they are looking forward to enter the Indian market. Government of India also to facilitate Phase III trial of vaccine Immediately after its registration in India.
However, suddenly increase in infection Some unforeseen complications have delayed plans to manufacture vaccines indigenously in Russia earlier this year Inclusion of vaccine in the national program
Government officials say the main problem is that adenovector (a weakened common cold virus) A “slow-growing” virus used for the second dose of Sputnik V reduces the production ratio of the two doses.
Sputnik V was approved by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) in April. It is currently available in a few private facilities, and Russian manufacturers of the vaccine have tied up with several companies for domestic manufacturing.
“It seems that companies are facing some technical challenges in manufacturing the vaccine,” a health ministry official told ThePrint. “From what I understand, that’s why we still aren’t making them in the country.”
Both Sputnik V and Covishield – one of two vaccines in the national programme, the other Covaxin – are based on the adenovirus vector. However, unlike Covishield, which uses the same vector for both doses, Sputnik V uses a different vector for each shot. This means that while the first and second doses of Covishield are the same, this is not the case with Sputnik V.
A member of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) told ThePrint on condition of anonymity that “the ratio of the output of the first dose to the second dose is about 4-5:1”, Which means only one second dose is produced for every 4-5 first doses manufactured.
“It is not only in India but also in Russia. The adenovirus used as a vector in the second dose is a slow-growing one. This is the reason for the delay. But we should get more clarity in a day or two,” said the member.
Speaking to ThePrint, a senior official associated with India’s immunization program said that Sputnik V “the deadline has been pushed back a bit due to the unexpected surge in Russia”.
“We are in talks with companies to understand when it might be possible to start buying in sufficient numbers, but we don’t have any clarity as of now,” the official said.
ThePrint has reached Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, which is importing the vaccine into India Email, phone and message, and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), the Russian Sovereign Wealth Fund, which supported the development of Sputnik V by email, to understand the reasons for the delay in including the vaccine in the national program, but had not responded by that time. . in connection with the publication of this report.
Read also: The Science Behind the Sputnik V Vaccine and Decoding India’s Disastrous Second Wave
Sputnik V in India
As per the data available on the CoWin portal, around 30.08 lakh doses of Sputnik V have been administered in India so far.
In May, in its estimates of vaccine availability from August to December, the Indian government said it expected 156 million doses of Sputnik V by the end of the year. This was part of a total of 216 crore doses that the government said would be available in the last five months of 2021.
A month later, when the Indian government was to submit an affidavit to the Supreme Court on the availability of the vaccine, that number was revised to 125 crore doses, but according to the affidavit, 100 million doses of Sputnik V were still expected. Was. will be available.
Instead, India has had to do about 33 Million Sputnik V DoseOf which the proportion of first-dose vaccines was high.
In a statement this July, RDIF Said It expects to manufacture supplies of Sputnik in India from September.
As of Tuesday, India had given more than 64 crore doses of Kovid vaccines, according to data from the Union Health Ministry. On Monday, India crossed an important milestone as it was announced that at least 50% of the eligible population At least one dose was received.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
Read also: Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine with over 91% efficacy recommended for emergency use in India
subscribe our channel youtube And Wire
Why is the news media in crisis and how can you fix it?
India needs free, unbiased, non-hyphenated and questionable journalism even more as it is facing many crises.
But the news media itself is in trouble. There have been brutal layoffs and pay-cuts. The best of journalism are shrinking, yielding to raw prime-time spectacle.
ThePrint has the finest young journalists, columnists and editors working for it. Smart and thinking people like you will have to pay the price for maintaining this quality of journalism. Whether you live in India or abroad, you can Here.