PremiumPharmaceutical firm Dr Reddy's Laboratories expects the Russian-made Covid-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, to get approval from the Indian regulator in the next few weeks.
"We expect to get the approval in the next few weeks. It is a two-dose vaccine. You take the first dose on day zero and the second one on day 21. The peak immunity develops somewhere between day 28 to day 42. So, it is a two-dose vaccine and we expect it to be available in the next few weeks," Deepak Sapra, the company's CEO, APIs and Services, was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Sapra, who was speaking in a webinar on today evening, was asked as to how soon Sputnik would be available and whether it is a one-dose or two doses vaccine.
Pharma major Dr Reddy's has partnered with the Russia Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) to bring the Sputnik V vaccine to India and other nations.
Observing that trials of the vaccine have been conducted in Russia, India, the UAE and others, he said the Covid-19 vaccine demonstrated an efficacy of 91.6% according to the journal Lancet.
The data on trials is currently with the Indian regulator and the firm expects it to get approved in the next few weeks, he added.
"Now, what we have done in India, in addition to all this, we also conducted trials in India and evaluated the vaccine on the Indian population for both safety as well as for immunogenicity. This data is currently with the Indian regulator and we expect it to get approved in the next few weeks," he said.
The webinar on "India's vaccination journey and the second wave of Covid-19' was conducted by the All India Professional Congress (AIPC), Telangana.
Sputnik V vaccine equally effective for all age groups
The Sputnik V vaccine has proven equally effective for all age groups, Alexander Gintsburg, the head of the Gamaleya research institute that developed the vaccine, has said.
"Sputnik V demonstrated the same level of efficacy in all age groups. At first there were doubts that the efficacy in people aged 60 and over would be lower ... but it was absolutely not," Gintsburg told the SolovyovLive show on YouTube.
The virologist noted that quality-wise Sputnik V beats other coronavirus vaccines.
"Among those four to six vaccines that have entered mass circulation worldwide, Sputnik V apparently ranks the first in terms of its qualities," Gintsburg noted.
"The effect of this vaccine will be very long. We hope two years and more," he added.
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