Russia’s Sputnik V Covid vaccine to reach India on 1st May

Sputnik V, the Covid vaccine developed by Russia, is all set to reach in India on May 1st week.

Last year in August, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the “world’s first Covid-19 vaccine” — Sputnik V (the ‘V’ stands for the letter V and not the Roman numeral for five).

Sputnik V is a viral vector vaccine just like AstraZeneca’s vaccine (marketed as Covishield in India).

The two doses of Sputnik V are slightly different versions of the same vaccine and are aimed at providing longer protection against Covid-19.

Sputnik V is the most price competitive, which costs $4 per dose compared to $10 (approx. Rs 750) for the Russian shot. However, Russia had earlier indicated that the vaccine could be available at less than $10 per dose in India.

The existing Covid-19 vaccines – Covishield and Covaxin – in India were priced at Rs 250 in private hospitals and available free at government centers.