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India becomes 60th country to authorise Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V
India has become the 60th country to authorize the use of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus, and the vaccine is now approved in countries with a total population of 3 billion, or 40 percent of the world's population, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said on Monday.
Moscow: India has become the 60th country to authorize the use of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus, and the vaccine is now approved in countries with a total population of 3 billion, or 40 percent of the world's population, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said on Monday.
"The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia's sovereign wealth fund) announces that Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved the use of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus in the country. India has become the 60th country to approve Sputnik V," the RDIF said in a statement.
The vaccine has been registered in India under the emergency use authorization procedure based on results of clinical trials in Russia as well as positive data of additional Phase III local clinical trials in India conducted in partnership with Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, according to the company.
Sputnik V ranks second among coronavirus vaccines globally in terms of the number of approvals issued by government regulators.
The vaccine has also been approved in Russia, Belarus, Argentina, Bolivia, Serbia, Algeria, Palestine, Venezuela, Paraguay, Turkmenistan, Hungary, UAE, Iran, Republic of Guinea, Tunisia, Armenia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Republika Srpska (entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina), Lebanon, Myanmar, Pakistan, Mongolia, Bahrain, Montenegro, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Gabon, San-Marino, Ghana, Syria, Kyrgyzstan, Guyana, Egypt, Honduras, Guatemala, Moldova, Slovakia, Angola, Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Sri Lanka, Laos, Iraq, North Macedonia, Kenya, Morocco, Jordan, Namibia, Azerbaijan, Philippines, Cameroon, Seychelles, Mauritius, Vietnam, Antigua and Barbuda, Mali and Panama.
Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, said in a statement: "We appreciate the decision of India's regulatory bodies to grant authorization for Sputnik V. Approval of the vaccine is a major milestone as Russia and India have been developing an extensive cooperation on clinical trials of Sputnik V in India and its local production."
"The Russian vaccine has efficacy of 91.6% and provides full protection against severe cases of COVID-19 as demonstrated by the data published in one of the leading medical journals The Lancet," he added.(ANI)