NewDelhi May 18 :The Russian COVID vaccine Sputnik V that became a part of India’s vaccination drive on May 14 is now available on the country’s CoWin Portal. However, currently no slots are available. As of now, Sputnik V is available only at Apollo Hospital at Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad and is being administered only to the beneficiaries who are 45 years or older.<\/p>\n
Dr Reddy’s rolled out a small number of vaccines to Apollo hospitals for a pilot vaccination programme. Under this, the hospital’s 50,000 employees and their family members were to be administered with Sputnik V according to the Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) released by the Central Government, which also included registration through the CoWin portal.<\/p>\n
The pilot programme in Hyderabad began on Monday and in the coming days, it will be extended to Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata, and Pune. “The idea of the soft launch is to check if the systems are in place across the length and breadth of the country,” Dr Reddy’s CEO branded markets (India & emerging markets), M.V. Ramana said. The company will use 1.5 lakh doses of the vaccine in the pilot programme which will later be scaled up across India, he added.<\/p>\n
Sharing a picture of the vaccination drive in India, the official handle of Sputnik V tweeted “Start of #SputnikV vaccination at @HospitalsApoll facility in #India’s Hyderabad.”<\/p>\n
What is the price of Sputnik V?<\/strong><\/p>\n On Friday, the Indian partner of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Dr Reddy announced that the vaccine will be priced at Rs 948 per dose plus 5 percent GST, which will amount to Rs 995 per dose. However, the Apollo hospital Sputnik V is priced at Rs 1250, which also includes administration charges. This price is at par with the price of Covaxin available on the CoWin portal.<\/p>\n RDIF has planned to start the production of Sputnik V in India in the coming days, after which it is expected that the prices of the vaccine will drop marginally in the country. The company has also said that it aims to reduce the input cost as much as possible so the vaccine can be made available at the lowest price possible.<\/p>\n When will Sputnik be available to the general public?<\/strong><\/p>\n The government had earlier informed that the vaccine would be available from this week. It is likely that more new centers will open up shortly. “I’m happy to say that we’re hopeful that they’ll be available in the market next week. We’re hopeful that the sale of the limited supply that has come from there (Russia), will begin next week,” V.K.Paul, a Niti Ayog member said on Thursday last week.<\/p>\n A senior person from Dr Reddy’s laboratory said that the vaccine will first be available in just 35 cities in India because it needs to be stored at minus 18 degrees celsius. But it will be made available at different locations across India shortly after the cold chain logistics are sorted out.<\/p>\n