Sputnik V: List of cities where the Russian-made vaccine will be available

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 India. It has also received at least 3 million doses of Sputnik V.

Sputnik V, the Russian vaccine soft-launched in Hyderabad, will now be available in several other Indian cities, including Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi etc., the company said in a press release.

Vials of Sputnik V vaccine readied during an inoculation drive for employees of Dr Reddy's Laboratories, at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, in New Delhi (Sanchit Khanna/ Hindustan Times)

The company also said that registration on CoWIN is yet to be made available to the public once the commercial launch commences. The soft launch was done in Hyderabad on May 14 and has been scaled up to include 9 other cities.

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 India. It has also received at least 3 million doses of Sputnik V.

The pilot allows the Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company to test the cold storage arrangements of -18°C temperature in the cities, CoWIN integration, track and trace and other logistical arrangements before the vaccine is launched commercially.

Sputnik V has been accepted by several countries with Argentina claiming that the vaccine has helped save millions of lives. The World Health Organization (WHO) has not yet approved the vaccine for emergency use but Hungary and Slovakia were the latest to give emergency use approval to the vaccine. More than 60 nations have given the vaccine emergency use approval. The makers of the vaccine, the Gamaleya National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology, said the vaccine is one of three vaccines in the world with over 90% efficacy.

Visakhapatnam, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Baddi, Chennai, Miryalaguda and Kolhapur