India’s vaccine manufacturer to start producing Russian Sputnik V vaccine

By Ahmad Adil

NEW DELHI (AA) - India’s Serum Institute and Russia’s sovereign wealth fund have joined hands to start producing the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine in India in September.

"The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund), and Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by volume, today announced cooperation to produce the Russian Sputnik vaccine against coronavirus," said a statement issued by the RDIF on Tuesday.

"The parties intend to produce over 300 million doses of the vaccine in India per year," the statement said.

Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, according to the statement, termed the partnership as "a major step to substantially increase our production capabilities demonstrating a perfect example of joining forces and expertise to save lives both in India and around the world."

This came at a time when India's second wave of pandemic is seeing a decline, but many cities are reporting a shortage of vaccine stocks.

While the total number of infections in India reached 30.9 million, including 31,443 new cases, lowest in the last 118 days, a Health Ministry statement said that over 380 million vaccine doses have so far been administered in the country.

The death toll in the country as of Tuesday stood at 410,784, with 2020 fresh fatalities.

Sputnik V vaccine is among the four vaccines approved in the country so far.

Amid the ongoing vaccination campaign in the country, many cities are facing a shortage in the vaccines. Manish Sisodia, deputy chief minister of the national capital New Delhi, on Monday said that the vaccine has run out again in the capital.