First Consignment Of Sputnik V Vaccine Doses From Russia Arrives In Hyderabad

The first tranche of the Sputnik V vaccine has landed in Hyderabad today.

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Hyderabad: The first lot of Sputnik V vaccines landed in India from Russia on Saturday. The Russian vaccine's arrival is expected to boost India's efforts in ramping up its capacity to vaccinate more citizens in the third phase of the inoculation drive.

Sputnik V was the third vaccine to be given Emergency Use Authorisation in India after Oxford University - AstraZeneca developed 'Covishield' and Bharat Biotech manufactured 'Covaxin'.

The first tranche of the Sputnik V doses landed at Hyderabad Airport today. Earlier, diplomatic sources had revealed that India expects between 1,50,000 to 2,00,000 ready-made vaccines to be available very quickly in the early part of May. 

"Sputnik-V vaccine will add to India's arsenal to fight the pandemic. This third option will augment our vaccine capacity and accelerate our vaccination drive. This is the first consignment of 1.5 lakh doses of Sputnik-V vaccine with millions of doses to follow,": Ministry of External Affairs stated.

Speaking about the vaccine's efficacy, the Russian Ambassador to India said that the efficacy of Sputnik V is among the highest in the world, and this vaccine will also be effective against new strains of Covid-19. "Its local production is about to start soon and is planned to be gradually increased up to 850 million doses per year," added the Ambassador.

India is expecting 5 million vials of Sputnik vaccines by next month.

Previously, Pfizer and BioNTech on Friday stated that they are firmly committed to working towards affordable access to their Covid-19 vaccine for people around the world including in India

The company released a statement on Friday where it wrote: "We confirm that a meeting was held to discuss how Pfizer can support the Government of India's COVID-19 efforts. Pfizer and BioNTech are firmly committed to working towards equitable and affordable access for our COVID-19 vaccine for people around the world including in India".

"Pfizer is working relentlessly to meet the public health demand and we are committed to continuing to work with the Government of India to establish a path forward," it added as reported by ANI.

Indian Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu had a discussion with Pfizer CEO Albert Bouria where they talked about ways in which the vaccine maker can support inoculation drive in India.