Sputnik V: India to produce about 300 mn doses of Russian vaccine in 2021
1 min read 18 Dec 2020, 12:18 PM IST'In India, we have agreements with four large manufacturers. ... India will produce about 300 mln doses or more of the vaccine for us next year,' RDIF's Kirill Dmitriev said
PremiumCEO of Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev has said that India is planning to produce around 300 million doses of the Russian Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine next year.
"In India, we have agreements with four large manufacturers. ... India will produce about 300 mln doses or more of the vaccine for us next year," Kirill Dmitriev told Tass News Agency in an interview, adding that production was expected to start in early 2021.
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The RDIF CEO further added that out of 110 production sites that negotiated production of the Russian coronavirus vaccine, RDIF chose 10 that meet its requirements.
"The Russian Sputnik V will be actively produced in the world and we see that this is built on a safe platform based on the human adenovirus," Dmitriev added.
The Russian Embassy in India quoted the RDIF CEO and said today that the country is testing the first samples of its Sputnik V vaccine that we produced in India.
Russia's Sputnik V is 95% effective
A few days back, Russia said the interim results from the Sputnik V clinical trials have shown that the Covid-19 vaccine was 95% effective, similar to other international vaccine makers that have also published test results showing efficacy rates of 90% and higher.
Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) cited President Vladimir Putin on Twitter and said that some health specialists have claimed that the vaccine’s protection level reaches up to 96-97%.
“Putin: Russia has been the first country in the world, which has invented and started to produce the COVID19 vaccine. And we have a good vaccine, safe and efficient - over 95% - and specialists say its protection level reaches 96-97%," the MFA Russia tweeted.
Earlier on Thursday, Putin said he was yet to be inoculated with Sputnik V but that he would do so when possible.
Russia rolled out the Sputnik V jab to medics and other frontline workers in Moscow this month, and over 200,000 people have already been vaccinated in the country.
Meanwhile, Russia has also said the Sputnik V vaccine will be priced at $10 per dose on international markets, costing less than some other registered coronavirus vaccines.
