The Apollo Group of Hospitals have said that they will start administering the Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine across its hospitals in India from the second week of June at a cost of Rs 1,195 a shot.
"We will be charging Rs 995 for the vaccine and Rs 200 would be administration charges," an Apollo Group official was quoted as saying by ANI.
A statement by executive vice-chairperson Shobana Kamineni said the group had already administered one million vaccine doses across 80 locations in India, and would prioritise frontline workers, high-risk populations, and corporate employees.
“In June, we will do a million every week and double that in July. We are on track to complete 20 million jabs by September this year,” Kamineni said.
The vaccine, developed by Russia’s Gamaleya Institute and promoted by Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), was the first to get approved by any country in the battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.
After receiving emergency use approval from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) in April, it became the third vaccine to be deployed in India in the fight against the coronavirus; the other two being the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India and the Bharat Biotech Covaxin that was developed indigenously.
Local production of the vaccine is expected to begin in August, with a plan for 85 crore doses to be produced annually.
On Friday, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said all Indians would be vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of the year, with plans to procure 216 crore doses of vaccines by December, allowing at least 108 crore people to get their jabs.
Initiating legal action against fakes: Dr Reddys
On Friday, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories issued a joint statement with the RDIF asserting that it alone had the rights to manufacture Sputnik V in India.
“In the last few days, there have been several unsubstantiated reports and claims from various quarters in India on alleged tie-ups for the Sputnik V vaccine. We wish to clarify that Dr Reddy’s has not entered into any partnership or collaboration with any party to supply the Sputnik V vaccine to residential associations, nor has the Company authorised any third party or intermediary to supply the vaccine on its behalf in India,” it said.
