HYDERABAD: Russian Covid-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, which received emergency use authorisation (EUA) earlier this week, will be available for use in India in the April-June quarter with imports coming in from Russia. Local manufacturing will kick in from the July-September quarter, top officials of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories said on Wednesday.
“The first batches are going to be produced by RDIF (Russian Direct Investment Fund) and will be imported to India by us,” Dr Reddy’s Laboratories co-chairman and managing director GV Prasad said. Sources added that RDIF could begin shipping the doses from Russia as early as mid-May once the vaccine batches are tested and approved by Indian regulators.
Dr Reddy’s has a contract with RDIF for distributing 125 million people equivalent doses. This would be a combination of imports and locally-manufactured doses and can be increased subject to mutual discussions, Deepak Sapra, CEO APIs & pharmaceutical services, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, said. Most of the vaccine doses that will be made in India will be used in India till the vaccine availability eases over a period of time as more sites begin manufacturing.
