Delhi hospital begins administering Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine

The hospital said that it has administered Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine to around 1,000 people.

The Indraprastha Apollo in New Delhi started the administration of the Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine to the public from Wednesday, people familiar with the developments told Livemint.

The hospital authorities also highlighted that spot registration and walk-in facilities for Sputnik V are currently restricted. (HT Photos)

The hospital said that it has administered Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine to around 1,000 people. The hospital authorities also highlighted that spot registration and walk-in facilities for Sputnik V are currently restricted. “We are encouraging beneficiaries to register and make appointments through the CoWIN app,” the hospital said. Indraprastha Apollo was scheduled to begin administration of the Covid-19 vaccine by June 25.

Several other hospitals on the other hand who were scheduled to begin inoculation using Sputnik V said that they have not received the doses from Hyderabad-based Dr Reddy's Laboratories who is the marketing partner for the vaccine in India.

Officials of Madhukar Rainbow Children's Hospital and Fortis Healthcare at its Gurugram and Mohali hospitals, have not been able to administer the vaccine to beneficiaries until now. The vaccine developed by Sputnik V uses two different viruses that cause the common cold (adenovirus) in humans and its both doses which are administered 21 days apart are different and not interchangeable.

The Centre fixed the price of Sputnik V at ₹1,145 per dose. Dr Reddy’s is importing the shots from Russia and will begin domestic production soon. Dr Reddy partnered with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) earlier this year to sell the first 125 million people doses (250 million vials) of Sputnik V in the country.