Russia's single-dose Sputnik Light COVID-19 vaccine will be launched in India by December 2021, said Kirill Dmitriev, CEO, Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) in a webinar on 24 November.

For our comprehensive coverage and latest updates on COVID-19 click here.

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) permitted Dr Reddy's Laboratory Limited to conduct phase-3 bridging trials in September. The government permitted the export of Russia's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik Light domestically produced, according to earlier reports.

Sputnik Light is the same as component-1 of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V which is being used in India's anti-COVID inoculation programme after getting emergency use authorisation from India's Drug Regulator in April.

The RDIF in the Webinar also announced the real-world data of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of San Marino on the Russian Sputnik V vaccine, demonstrating it is 80 per cent effective against coronavirus infection from 6 to 8 months after administering the second dose.

Efficacy of Sputnik V on 6-8 months is much higher than officially published efficacy of mRNA vaccines, said a statement from Sputnik. The data is based on the number of COVID infections in San Marino in November 2021. Efficacy was calculated based on data obtained from over 18,600 individuals fully vaccinated with Sputnik V not less than 5 months before November.