Sputnik Single-Dose Light Vaccine to be Available in September

Single-dose Russian vaccine Sputnik Lite is going to be available in September to speed up the Covid-19 vaccination in India. Its price is expected to be Rs 750

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Single-dose Russian vaccine Sputnik Lite is going to be available in September to speed up the Covid-19 vaccination in India. Panacea Biotech, a partner company of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which makes Sputnik V and Sputnik Lite, has sought emergency approval from the Drug Regulator of India for Sputnik Lite. This vaccine will initially be available in limited quantities. Its price is expected to be Rs 750.

Russian vaccine Sputnik V got emergency approval in India on 12 April. Now this vaccine is being used in 65 countries. In India, it was started for the general public in May. Vaccine supply was disturbed in June and July, due to which the vaccination pace was slow down, but the pace may increase in September-October.

What is Sputnik Light?

Sputnik Lite is not a new vaccine, but the first dose of two doses of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V. Actually, different viral vectors have been used in both doses of Sputnik V.
In Russia, it was seen how effective the first dose of Sputnik V was. For this, data was collected 28 days after the first dose under Russia's vaccination program between 5 December 2020 and 15 April 2021. On its analysis, the effectiveness of a single dose has been 79.4%. This is called Sputnik Light. Russia approved this vaccine in May.
The special thing is that Covishield and Covaxin are two-dose vaccines being implemented in India. The effectiveness is less than 80% even after both doses. If we look at the data of lab studies and trials, the first dose of Sputnik V i.e. Sputnik Light has proved to be more effective than this.
Last week, Johnson & Johnson's single-dose vaccine also got emergency approval. It is also based on human adenovirus serotype number 26 (rAd26), from which Sputnik Light is also made. There have been large-scale trials of Johnson & Johnson's vaccine and it has been approved by the US, Europe, and WHO.

What are the benefits of Sputnik Light?

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It is a single-dose vaccine. That is, no one will have to wait for the second dose. At present, 31% of the population in India has received at least one dose. At the same time, about 8% of the population has been fully vaccinated. That is, it has taken both doses. If Sputnik light becomes available, the percentage of the fully vaccinated population will increase rapidly.
The efficiency of Sputnik Light is 79.4%. In 100% of people who received the vaccine, antibodies increased up to 40-fold after 10 days. Similarly, the immune response against the S-protein of the coronavirus developed in all those who got the vaccine.
Sputnik Light can be stored at 2 to 8 degrees temperature. This will make it easier to transport. This vaccine is also effective on people who have had corona infections before. RDIF claims that this vaccine can fight all the variants.
After installing Sputnik Light, the risk of serious effects of corona will be reduced. In most cases, the patient will not need to be hospitalized. RDIF says that the results of the study of vaccine mixing in many countries are also encouraging. On this basis, it can be said that Sputnik Lite can also be mixed with other vaccines.

How different is Sputnik Light from Sputnik V?

See, there is no difference. If you are getting Sputnik V, then the effect that will show in the first dose will be the same as the effect of Sputnik Light. Sputnik V and Sputnik Light have been jointly developed by Moscow's Gamalya Institute and the Russian Development Investment Fund (RDIF).
When Russia approved Sputnik V on 11 August 2020, it became the world's first COVID-19 vaccine. This vaccine is made on the human adenoviral vector platform. In May, Russian officials said the vaccine showed 97.6% effectiveness in real-world data from 3.8 million people. The medical journal Lancet has also reported Sputnik V to be 91.6% effective.
When you talk about Sputnik Light, Phase-3 clinical trials were conducted on 7 thousand people in Russia, United Arab Emirates, Ghana, and other countries. The Gamaliel Center claims that this vaccine is effective on all variants of Corona.

Is single-dose vaccine enough?

Yes. The effectiveness of the single-dose Sputnik Lite vaccine is higher than that of many two-dose vaccines. With this, it can help to vaccinate a large population faster. Experts say that the single-dose vaccine can help to vaccinate more and more people quickly. More clinical data will be needed to know how effective it is in the long term.
The country's top virologist Dr. Gagandeep Kang says that there is no problem if a single-dose vaccine is approved with strong efficacy data. This will prove helpful in vaccinating more and more people. For the long-term effectiveness of a single-dose vaccine, we have to see its results in the real world.
As far as Sputnik V is concerned, it is one of the three vaccines in the world that has proved to be more than 90% effective. The vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna have claimed up to 95% effectiveness.
In December 2020, Russia released Sputnik V for public use. It remained the main vaccine in Russia. Sputnik Light was sent to other countries. This vaccine is being implemented in more than 60 countries.

How different is Sputnik Light from CoveShield and Covaxin?

Sputnik V is built on the Human Adenoviral Vector Platform. At the same time, Oxford University and AstraZeneca have also made a viral vector vaccine, which is being made in India by the Serum Institute of India under the name CoviShield. Covaxin has been developed by Bharat Biotech as an inactivated COVID-19 vaccine.

All these three vaccines are two-dose. In comparison, Sputnik Lite is a single-dose vaccine. In terms of efficacy, Sputnik V approved in India is 91.6%, Coveshield 62%-90%, Covaxin 78%, Johnson & Johnson 66%, and Moderna 95% effective.

When will Sputnik Light be available in India?

In September, Panacea Biotech has partnered with RDIF to make Sputnik V. The same company has sought approval for Sputnik Lite. The good thing is that the subject expert committee of the drug regulator has given permission to submit the data of trials conducted in Russia. That is, there will be no need to conduct separate trials for Sputnik Light.

Actually, there are plans to make 100 million doses of Sputnik V annually in India. According to the deal that Dr. Reddy has signed with RDIF, it will be the exclusive distributor of this vaccine in India.