India, Russia Join Hands for Covid-19 Vaccine Production

The production of Covid-19 vaccine, Sputnik V has witnessed a major update. Russia is soon to come together with India for production of Sputnik V. According to Nikolay Kudashev, Russia’s envoy to India, Moscow along with New Delhi will soon jointly produce Covid-19 vaccine, Sputnik V. The Covid-19 vaccine will be manufactured by Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, the famous Indian multinational pharmaceutical company.

Addressing a press conference, Nikolay Kudashev said, "Together with India, we are putting our best foot forward to fight the deadly coronavirus infection. The joint production of Sputnik V vaccine is soon to be carried out at the capacities of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories in India, Russia and other countries.” He further added, “Both the countries have supported each other in a huge form earlier in 2020 when repatriation of thousands of Russian and Indian nationals to their respective home countries was performed.”

It is to be noted that on August 11, 2020 Russia became the first country in the world to register a Covid-19 vaccine, Sputnik V. The development of the coronavirus vaccine was done by Gamaleya Research Institute. Presently, the production and promotion of Sputnik V in the global market is being taken care of by Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).

As per Russia’s health ministry, Sputnik V vaccine has been proven 92% efficient in preventing COVID-19 in the interim trial results.

September 2020 brought Dr. Reddy's Laboratories and RDIF together in a partnership to carry out clinical trials of Sputnik V vaccine as well as its distribution in India. A major inclusion of this partnership is the RDIF supplying 100 million Covid-19 vaccine doses to Dr. Reddy's soon after regulatory approval in India.