Covid-19: Sputnik V price, dose, efficacy and where it stands against other vaccines in India—Explained

The cheapest of the lot is Serum Institute of India manufactured Covishield which is available for private hospitals at a price of Rs 600 per dose.

After Covishield and Covaxin, the country has finally got Russia-developed Coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V. Developed by Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, the vaccine has been launched in India by Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories on Friday.

Sputnik V vaccine

Alike the currently available vaccines in India, the Sputnik V vaccine is also a two-dose Coronavirus vaccine that uses two different human adenoviruses, the Indian Express reported. Though the vaccine was launched in Russia very early into the pandemic even without its clinical trial phase 3 could be completed, the Lancet journal in a study has found that the vaccine has 91 percent efficacy in protecting against the Coronavirus. Recently, RDIF launched the single-dose vaccine of Sputnik V, which is named as Sputnik V Light. RDIF CEO yesterday said the Sputnik V Light vaccine will be launched in India soon. Dr Reddy’s Laboratories has signed a contract with the Gamaleya Research Institute and has become the local distributor of vaccines.

First dose of Sputnik V vaccine

Days after getting clearance from the Drug regulator in the country, the vaccine was finally launched in the country on Friday. The first dose of the vaccine was administered to an adult in Hyderabad on Friday.

How many Sputnik V doses will arrive in India?

In the first batch, Dr. Reddy’s has only received about 1.5 lakh vaccine doses from its Russian partner but the company has said that as per the contract the country is expected to receive about 250 million doses of the vaccine. The company has also said that the next batch of the vaccine is about to arrive in the coming days even as the complete timeline of the delivery of the vaccine remains unclear. Indian pharma companies led by Dr Reddy’s are also trying to manufacture the Sputnik V vaccine inside the country to the tune of 850 million doses and are working on setting up the manufacturing capacity.

Cost of Sputnik V vaccine

Single-dose of the Sputnik V vaccine will cost Rs 948, Dr. Reddy’s informed the country on Friday. However with the addition of 5 percent of GST, the final price of the vaccine will be about Rs 995.40. The company has maintained that once the country starts manufacturing the vaccine inside the country, the price of the vaccine will substantially come down in comparison to the current price of imported vaccine doses. However, the company has not provided any timeline as to when it intends to begin manufacturing vaccines.

Price of Sputnik V vis-a-vis other vaccines

The most expensive Covid-19 vaccine currently in the country is Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, which is being sold to the private hospitals at a price of Rs 1,200 per dose. Sputnik V vaccine has become the second most expensive vaccine in the country as it will be sold to private hospitals at a price of Rs 995.40. The cheapest of the lot is Serum Institute of India manufactured Covishield which is available for private hospitals at a price of Rs 600 per dose.