Sputnik V: Vaccine reaches 50 cities; Dr. Reddy’s announces strengthening commercial rollout

The company also announced that the vaccine’s nationwide soft launch, which began on May 14, has now reached 50 cities. (Picture courtesy: IE)

Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories has announced that it would strengthen commercial rollout of the Russia-made Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine over the next few weeks. Neither the soft commercial launch, which is ongoing at present, nor the work to ramp it up has been put on hold, the company announced on its official Twitter handle.

The company also announced that the vaccine’s nationwide soft launch, which began on May 14, has now reached 50 cities. Dr Reddy’s Laboratories has partnerships with major hospitals and chains across India and all of these have administered the vaccine, including the ongoing commercial roll-outs.

The soft launch, which initially began in Hyderabad, has now reached the likes of Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and NCR, Vijayawada, Chennai, Kochi, Chandigarh, Nagpur, Pune, Nashik, Ranchi, Coimbatore, Jaipur, Patna, Lucknow, Bhubaneshwar, Thiruvananthapuram, Guwahati, Ahmedabad, Palakkad, Rajkot, Allahabad, Kohima, Bhopal, Surat, Indore, Cuttack, Kannur, Kanpur, and Mysore among several others, the company said in its statement.

On Monday, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), and the Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology announced that the vaccine had displayed strong results in a study on neutralising the sera activity in individuals that had received the jab against the virus’ new variants.

Sputnik V has triggered production of protective neutralizing titers against the virus’ new variants, including the Alpha B.1.1.7 that was first identified in the UK, Beta B.1.351, first detected in South Africa, Gamma P.1, identified first in Brazil, Delta B.1.617.2 and B.1.617.3, both of which were first identified in India, and the Moscow endemic variants B.1.1.141 and B.1.1.317 that had mutations in the receptor-binding domain, the RDIF said.

The data goes on to confirm that Sputnik V retains its protective capability against the newly detected variants of SARS-CoV-2. The vaccine notably demonstrated a lot less reduction in its neutralising activity against several variants when compared to data provided by other vaccine producers, according to RDIF.

The study methodology was described in the research paper that was published in a leading journal of international repute on Monday. The two are also studying the prospect of new opportunities in an attempt to develop cocktails with other leading producers of Covid-19 vaccine using Sputnik V’s first component.