Sputnik Light Covid-19 Vaccine has been granted the emergency use permission in India by the Indian drug regulator ‘Drugs Controller General of India’ (DCGI), said Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya. The Sputnik Light Covid-19 vaccine is a single-dose vaccine. With this, the Sputnik Light becomes the ninth vaccine to be granted use approval, for adults in India.
Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya, on Sunday, shared the news via a Tweet, saying that DGCI has granted emergency use permission to Single-dose Sputnik Light Covid-19 vaccine in India. He further said that the Sputnik Light Covid-19 vaccine becomes the 9th Covid-19 vaccine in India and it will further strengthen the country’s combined fight against the Covid-19 viruses.
Developed by Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Sputnik Light is built on recombinant human adenovirus serotype number 26 (the first component of Sputnik V) – where instructions are sent into the human body through a harmless virus, to trigger an immune reaction. The single-dose vaccine has the same component-1 of the Russian two-dose Sputnik V vaccine, which has earlier been used in India’s vaccination drive. In the vaccination drive to date, India has administered around 12 lakh doses of Sputnik V.
An expert panel of India’s central drug authority had recommended granting restricted Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) to Sputnik Light, the single-dose Covid-19 vaccine. Interestingly, last year on July 1, India’s drug regulator Drugs Controller General of India’ (DCGI) had disapproved Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) to Sputnik Light.
As per the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), a one-shot vaccination of Sputnik Light provides for easy administration of the vaccine and helps in increasing the effectiveness and as well as the duration of other vaccines, when it is used as a booster shot. The Russian health officials had authorised the use of the one-shot version of the vaccine in May last year. To date, Sputnik Light has been authorised for use in more than 30 countries already.
The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said that the real-world data of multiple countries show that Sputnik Light is a safe and effective vaccine when used both as a standalone vaccine and also as a booster.
What Studies Reveal
A preliminary study undertaken by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, found that the vaccine significantly increases the virus-neutralising activity against the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus. The company said that in order to strengthen the efficacy of vaccines against the Omicron variant, a booster dose of the vaccine is highly recommended. The company further added that in light of the combined Delta and Omicron challenge, the immunity boost given by Sputnik Light can strengthen and lengthen the currently quickly diminishing efficacy of several vaccines.
Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) further said that an Argentinean study of heterogeneous process, combining Sputnik Light and vaccines produced by AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, Moderna and Cansino has indicated that Sputnik Light is an effective universal booster.
Efficacy Data of The Vaccine
Sputnik V and Sputnik Light are based on the human adenoviral vector platform and any rare serious adverse events have not been reported, following vaccination.
Based on the data collected in Moscow, the findings by the Gamaleya Center have demonstrated that during the first three months after vaccination, the vaccine when administered as standalone has 70 per cent efficacy against infection from the Delta variant of coronavirus. The vaccine is reportedly 75 per cent effective among people under the age of 60.
On Sunday, the Russian Direct Investment Fund’s CEO, Kirill Dmitriev said in a statement that a preliminary study by the Gamaleya Center found that the single-dose vaccine significantly increases virus neutralising activity against Omicron based on sera, two-three months after revaccination. He further said that 100% of individuals revaccinated with Sputnik Light as a booster have developed neutralizing antibodies against the Omicron variant.
