Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine arrives in India, clinical trials to begin soon: Report

3 | FM Nirmala Sitharaman announces Rs 900 crore grant for COVID-19 vaccine research: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharman on Thursday announced a Rs 900 crore grant to the Department of Biotechnology for COVID-19 vaccine research. "We are providing Rs 900 crore for research and development of COVID-19 vaccine. This is being provided for covid suraksha mission, purely for R&D but this money goes to Department of Biotechnology for research purposes," she said. Sitharaman said the grant does not cover the actual cost of vaccine and distribution expenses, which will be made separately as and when the vaccine is available.

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Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine for COVID-19 has reportedly arrived in India after Dr Reddy’s Laboratories got approval from the Drug Control General of India (DCGI) to conduct phase 2 and 3 human clinical trials of the vaccine.

In a video, surfaced on social media, containers with logos of Sputnik V and Dr Reddy's were seen unloaded from a small truck.

Moneycontrol could not verify the date and authenticity of the video.

A senior official from Dr Reddy's confirmed the arrival of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine in India and added that the clinical trials will commence soon, reported The New Indian Express.

Got confirmed, Russian Sputnik V vaccines have arrived in India#Hyderabad based @drreddys has permission to conduct phase 2/3 human clinical trials of vaccine in India

Trials will start shortly

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

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How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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Video being circulated on social media is true@sputnikvaccine @rdif_press pic.twitter.com/7bVOmXr0mD

— Nilesh TNIE (@Nilesh_TNIE) November 11, 2020

The development comes at a time when Sputnik V, developed by the Gamalaya Centre, demonstrated an efficacy rate of 92 percent, according to interim trial results announced by the country's health ministry.

The calculation is based on the 20 confirmed COVID-19 cases split between vaccinated individuals and those who received the placebo, said Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).

The efficacy of the vaccine was demonstrated on the basis of a first interim analysis obtained 21 days after the first injection.

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There were no unexpected adverse events during the trials. Monitoring of the participants is ongoing, the ministry said. The interim research data of Sputnik V has not been published or peer-reviewed yet.

Russia registered Sputnik V for public use in August, the first country to do so, though the approval came before the start of the large-scale trial in September.

Follow our full coverage on COVID-19 here.