Major progress on Russia's Sputnik V vaccine offer; specific outcome soon: NITI Aayog

Addressing the media on Tuesday, NITI Aayog's Member (Health) Dr. VK Paul revealed that there has been significant progress on Russia's twin requests in connection with the Sputnik V vaccine. The Russian government has already proposed manufacturing its COVID-19 vaccine and conducting its phase 3 trials in India. Dr. Paul stressed that the Indian government attaches great importance to this offer for partnership from Russia, which he termed as the nation's "very special friend". Mentioning that several Indian companies had been approached in this regard, he exuded confidence in a specific outcome emerging very soon. 

Dr. VK Paul remarked, "The vaccine developed by Russia has been under the consideration of the country. The government of Russia approached the government of India through appropriate channels and sought help on two counts. One- to consider its manufacturing through a network of companies that are well-known for vaccine manufacturing of the right quality and the size, volume, and capacity which is the very best in the world. So, the intent was to manufacture this vaccine through Indian companies. They have done phase one and phase 2 trials. If need be, they proposed that phase 3 studies can be conducted in India. These are the twin requests from their side."

"The government of India attaches great importance to this offer of partnership from a very special friend to this nation. On both the tracks, there has been significant movement. The outreach has been extended to several companies from India. A few of them have already come forward. There will be very specific outcomes very soon in that regard," he added.

Read: Russia's Second COVID-19 Vaccine Shows Positive Sign In Early Human Trials: Report

Read: COVID-19: Clinical Trials Of Sputnik-V To Commence In India, Other Countries This Month

What is the Sputnik V vaccine? 

On August 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that his government had approved Sputnik V, the first vaccine in the world against COVID-19. It has reportedly been named after the world's first satellite launched by the Soviet Union. The vaccine has been developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology along with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).

Putin mentioned that one of his daughters had already been inoculated. As the vaccine has not been tested in phase 3 or larger clinical trials, there is a perception that Russia had put national prestige over safety amid the global race to develop a vaccine. Recently, the Russian Health Ministry confirmed that the first batch of the vaccine has been released for public use after clearing the necessary quality tests. 

Read: 'Russia To Produce 2 Mn COVID Vaccine Doses/month, Plans To Ramp Up To 6 Mn': Reports