Second batch of Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine reaches Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: The second consignment of Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine,  consisting of 60,000 doses, arrived in a special flight at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport here on Sunday. Earlier, the first consignment of 1.5 lakh doses had arrived in the country on May 1.

Sputnik V has been approved by 66 countries. In comparison, Astrazeneca-Oxford’s Covishield has got approval in 40 countries and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin in 9 countries. In India, Hyderabad-based pharma firm Dr Reddy’s has partnered with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) - Russia’s sovereign wealth fund responsible for marketing Sputnik V abroad - to import the vaccine. Each dose of the vaccine is being sold at `995. The first consignment of 1.5 lakh doses, which was stored at Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh, was approved for distribution by the Central Drugs Laboratory, Kasauli  on May 13.

Russian ambassador to India Nikolay Kudashev, via twitter, termed the development a ‘#RussiaIndia joint fight against #Covid-19,’ and tweeted that it was an example of ‘privileged strategic partnership and an effective model of international anti-pandemic cooperation.’