Russia eyes partnership with India for producing COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V

Russia is looking for a partnership with India for producing COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V, a senior Russian official said on Thursday amid international concerns over its efficacy.

The Russian Health Ministry, on August 15, confirmed that the country has already initiated the production of its COVID-19 vaccine, a development that comes days after Moscow announced the ‘world’s first COVID-19 vaccine’. Named Sputnik V, the clinically approved vaccine against the novel coronavirus has been manufactured by the Gamaleya Research Institute in collaboration with the Russian Health Ministry.

Addressing an online press briefing, Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), said several nations are interested in the production of the vaccine from countries in Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East.

"The production of the vaccine is a very important issue. Currently, we are looking for a partnership with India. We believe that they are capable of producing the Gamaleya vaccine and it is very important to say that those partnerships to produce the vaccine will enable us to cover the demand that we have," he said.

Dmitriev said Russia is looking forward to international cooperation. "We are going to do clinical trials not just in Russia but also in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, probably in Brazil and India. We are planning to produce the vaccine in more than five countries and there is a very high demand from Asia, Latin America, Italy, and other parts of the world regarding the delivery of the vaccine," he said.

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Alexander Gintsburg, the director of the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology and an academician at the Russian Academy of Sciences, said more than 20,000 people have taken part in the clinical trials of vaccines and drugs, based on human adenoviruses or human adenoviral vectors.

"Vaccines do not contain live human adenoviruses, but human adenovirus vectors, that is, human viruses that cannot multiply in the body and are completely safe," he said.

The Sputnik V vaccine consists of two shots that use different versions of adenoviruses -- virus types, some of which cause the common cold -- that the manufacturers have engineered to carry the gene for the surface protein of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19.

According to reports, the vaccine, which is the first to go for production, will be rolled out by the end of this month. Despite its fast-paced production, the drug continues to draw skepticism from around the world with many asserting that the Russians may have put prestige before safety.  However, dismissing their claim, Putin had asserted that one of his daughters had been given the vaccine developed by the country. 

(With PTI inputs)

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