DCGI grants emergency use permission to single-dose Sputnik Light Covid vaccine
“DCGI has granted emergency use permission to Single-dose Sputnik Light Covid-19 vaccine in India,” Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said.
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has given an emergency use approval to the single-dose Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik Light, Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted on Sunday.Mandaviya also said that the addition of the vaccine will boost the country’s fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. “DCGI has granted emergency use permission to Single-dose Sputnik Light COVID-19 vaccine in India,” he said. “This is the 9th #COVID19 vaccine in the country. This will further strengthen the nation's collective fight against the pandemic,” he added. Sputnik V’s two-dose regimen has already been approved in India back in April 2021.
With the approval in India, more than 2.5 billion people globally could access Sputnik Light as a one-dose vaccine and “universal booster”, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said.
“Thus Sputnik Light has been registered in more than 30 countries with total population of over 2.5 billion people. A number of countries, including Argentina, Bahrain, UAE, San Marino and Philippines, have already authorized Sputnik Light as a universal booster,” the RDIF said following the approval in India.
Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, which the RDIF called was its major partner in the country, conducted the clinical trials of Sputnik Light. “Positive data from these trials have been presented to India's regulator and contributed to the positive decision by DCGI,” the RDIF said. “Sputnik Light will add to India’s national vaccine portfolio and join Sputnik V, which was approved in the country in April 2021. India is the leading production hub for Sputnik V,” it added.
The DCGI’s nod for an emergency use approval to Sputnik Light came on the day the country’s Covid-19 vaccination drive administered more than 169.46 crore doses as of 7am on the day, the Union ministry of health and family welfare said on Sunday. It also included the 14,727,674 precautionary third doses, data from the ministry showed.
