The Russian Ambassador Tuesday formally approached the Modi government for the coronavirus vaccine – Sputnik V. Russia sought to collaborate for the mass production of the Covid-19 vaccine – Sputnik V and has also expressed its willingness to share data with India.
According to reports citing government sources, Russian Ambassador to India Nikolay Kudashev has formally approached the office of the principal scientific advisor to the Government of India professor K. VijayRaghavan, Secretary DBT (Department of Biotechnology), Ranu Swarup and secretary, department of health research and Dr Balram Bhargava, who is also the director-general of the Indian Council of Medical Research.
“The Russian ambassador in India is engaging with the offices of the principal scientific advisor and the secretaries of the department of health research and department of biotechnology. The Russian government is keen to collaborate with India on the vaccine. They have also actively shared a lot of information and data on Sputnik V but most of the safety and efficacy data that we are looking for, is yet to be shared,” a health ministry official said.
India Embassy engaging with the developers of Covid-19 vaccine – Sputnik V
The Indian embassy in Moscow has been in talks with the Gamaleya National Centre of Epidemiology and Microbiology, which has developed the vaccine, to get safety and efficacy data on the vaccine trials.
On August 11, Russia became the first country in the world to approve a coronavirus vaccine.
Russia’s vaccine Sputnik V (Gam-COVID-Vac Lyo) is based on the DNA of a SARS-CoV-2 type adenovirus, a common cold virus. The vaccine uses the weakened virus to deliver small parts of a pathogen and stimulate an immune response.
Russia has sought India’s help to mass-produce its first Covid-19 vaccine.
The number of Covid-19 cases in India crossed 31 lakh mark on Tuesday with 60,975 new cases and 848 deaths reported in the last 24 hours.
