Sputnik V vaccine doses to arrive in India today as country liberalises inoculation drive

Sputnik V, developed by Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Russia, will arrive in the country as it faces an acute shortage of vaccine doses.

Five million doses of Sputnik V are expected to arrive in India by June.

Sputnik V is the only foreign vaccine approved by the Indian government so far as the two others, Covishield and Covaxin, are developed in India.

While Covishield is the vaccine developed by Oxford University but manufactured by India's Serum Institute of India (SII), Covaxin is an indigenous one developed and manufactured by Bharat Biotech.

So far, Sputnik V has been authorised by 64 countries with a total population of over 3.2 billion people.

Though India, which is devastated by the massive surge in Covid-19 cases, has expanded the vaccination drive to all people aged 18 or more, various states are not in any position to implement the central government's plan due to the shortage of vaccines.

The eastern state of West Bengal, for instance, has decided to prioritise all those people who are awaiting the second doses and begin inoculation for all when fresh consignments of vaccines arrive.

In a grim picture, India on Saturday reported over four lakh daily cases for the first time while registering over 3,500 deaths apparently due to the virus in the last 24 hours.

The hospital beds swamped with patients, people unable to get Oxygen supplies, crematoriums overburdened, pyres burning round the clock and parking lots converted into crematoriums are the usual, worrisome pictures, which can be captured across the country including the national capital Delhi presently.