Substantial supply preventing Sputnik from driving: Dr N K Arora

Russia’s vaccines against Sputnik V may not be available at government immunisation centres until supply increases significantly, said Dr N K Arora, Chairman of the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group. In India, there have only been a few lakh doses available so far.

As a viral vector, Sputnik V uses 2 distinct adenoviruses — 26 (Ad26) for the 1st shot, and 5 (Ad5) for the 2nd shot. The second dose is a slow process because of the very slow growth of the virus. Supplies were therefore postponed.

Several private hospitals have run out of even the vaccine’s first doses, sources in hospitals in Pune told TOI on Wednesday. More first doses will be made available only when supplies of the second shot are ramped up, said Arora.

“Sputnik V’s availability so far in India is not high enough to incorporate the vaccine in the government’s free vaccination programme. Only when the availability increases, a system along with cold storage can be worked out,” said Arora. The vaccine has to be stored at -18 degrees C till half an hour before administration for stability and potency.

Apart from Russia, only India is currently manufacturing the vaccine. “Dr Reddy’s, which launched Sputnik V on a pilot basis in India, has been trying to resolve the second dose issue over the last two-three months. We are given to understand that they will make headway soon,” said Arora.

In an email response to TOI, a spokesperson from Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Limited said: “We expect locally manufactured doses to be available from the September-October period. We have received 31.5 lakh doses of component 1 and 4.5 lakh doses of component 2 of Sputnik V in India so far. We are working closely with the RDIF (the Russian partner) to ramp up supplies.”

People who want to take Sputnik V are complaining about the delay. They said hospitals that earlier had stock, are now rescheduling appointments due to supply constraints. “Sputnik V has a 21-day gap between the first and second doses. Many want to get this vaccine because fully vaccinated people have been given access to a host of relaxations,” said software engineer Vaibhav Heddurshetti.