Coronavirus Vaccine: Will Russia’s COVID-19 Vaccine Sputnik V Be Available In India?

On Tuesday the Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia has developed the world's first vaccine against COVID-19. The vaccine is going to be registered after less than two months of human testing. But will the vaccine be available in India?

(Representative Image/ PTI)

New Delhi: On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia has developed the world's first vaccine against COVID-19. He said the vaccine has been inoculated to his daughter and that it works effectively and forms a stable immunity. The vaccine has raised many safety concerns among the medical community and if it comes to India it will be looked at critically. "If Russia's vaccine is successful, then we will have to see critically whether it is safe and effective. There should not be any side effects of the vaccine and it should provide good immunity and protection. India has the capacity for mass production of the vaccine," Dr. Randeep Guleria, Director of Delhi’s AIIMS told ANI. He pointed out that while the vaccine’s efficacy and side effects need to be assessed, India does have the capacity to mass-produce the vaccine. The Russian vaccine which has been named Sputnik V, after the world’s first satellite is not among the WHO's list of six vaccines that have reached phase three clinical trials. A more widespread trail on humans is necessary to prove the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine. Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said that clinical trials of the vaccine developed by the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology of the Russian Healthcare Ministry were over. According to a PTI report, there have been speculations that Russian researchers might be cutting corners considering the speed at which they registering the vaccine. "Government has constituted the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration which will meet tomorrow. Their terms of reference constitute all matters related to logistics of vaccines, ways to address issues of equity etc," Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said at a media briefing according to an ANI report. The vaccine is administered in two doses. According to reports, after the doses Putin’s daughter experienced slight fever but her antibody count rose up. The vaccine has been developed by embedding the coronavirus genetic materials into adenovirus which is a common cold virus. Each of them carry an S-antigen of the new coronavirus, which enter human cells and produce an immune response. Medical workers and teachers will be the first to get the COVID-19 vaccine, Minister Mikhail Murashko said according to PTI. The report also says that the webiste of State Register of Pharmaceuticals read "Date of introduction to the civilian circulation - 01.01.2021.”