Serum Institute of India To Produce Sputnik V COVID-19 Vaccine In India

Serum Institute of India Sputnik V Production In India: The CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Kirill Dmitriev has said that the production of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V will start in India in September.

According to the news agency ANI, the Indian biotechnology company Serum Institute of India (SII) will produce the vaccine in India.

Dmitriev added that other than the Serum Institute of India, some other manufacturers are also ready to produce the vaccine in the country.

Serum Institute of India (SII) will commence production of Sputnik V in September. Some other manufactures are also ready to produce this vaccine in India: Kirill Dmitriev, CEO, Russian Direct Investment Fund pic.twitter.com/XDkh1C0Uwg

— ANI (@ANI) July 13, 2021

Sputnik V, which is the first vaccine for COVID-19 to be developed in the world is already being manufactured in the country by the pharma company Dr Reddy's. Originally, the vaccine was developed by the Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Russia.

The vaccine was first approved by the Drug Controller General of India (DGI) for emergency use in the country after Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covishield and India made Covaxin.

How Does Sputnik V Work?

The vaccine combines two different adenoviruses (common cold virus), with the COVID-19 causing virus SARS-CoV-2. The combination is then introduced to the body and builds immunity against the virus. The common cold viruses injected with the vaccine are weakened and cannot cause disease in the body, but can help the body build immunity.

Sputnik V uses the same principle as the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine and the only difference between the two is that Sputnik V uses two different vectors in two doses of the vaccine. It uses Adenovirus type 26 (Ad26) for the first shot and Adenovirus type 5 (Ad5) for the second shot of the vaccine. Both the doses are injected 21 days apart from each other which makes the immune system stronger than the virus.

Is Sputnik V Effective Against Delta Varient?

The makers of the vaccine stated on June 29, 2021, that Sputnik V is around 90 per cent effective against the delta variant of COVID-19. The vaccine has been reported to be about 92 per cent effective against the original strain of the virus. The efficiency figure for the vaccine was estimated on digital medical and vaccine records.