The Serum Institute of India, which makes the Covishield vaccine, has applied to the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI), seeking permission to manufacture Russia's COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V, reports said on Thursday, 3 June, citing sources.
The Adar Poonawalla-led company "put up an application to DCGI on Wednesday seeking permission to manufacture the COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, in India," a source told news agency PTI.
Approval has also been sought for test analysis and examination.
Vaccine Shortages
The Russian vaccine had been approved for emergency use authorisation in India in April, making it the third COVID-19 vaccine to be approved in the country, the other two being Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin.
The first consignment of the Sputnik V vaccine had arrived in Hyderabad on 1 May. It is being imported by Dr Reddy's Laboratories and will be manufactured locally by the pharmaceutical major in the coming months.
SII’s application has come at a time when of acute shortage of vaccine doses across the country in the midst of a deadly second wave of the pandemic.
States have been forced to halt vaccination drives and prioritise certain age groups from time to time owing to the non-availability of doses.
The government has set an ambitious target of acquiring over 200 crore doses by the end of the year and has claimed that the country will be in a position to vaccinate all of its adult population by December.
(With inputs from PTI and IANS.)
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