Covid-19: Government to provide free Sputnik V vaccine soon

Russia's Coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V will soon be available at government vaccination centers. The vaccine will be made available free of cost, said Dr NK Arora, chairman of Centre's Covid-19 working group. Currently the Sputnik V vaccine was only available in private hospitals. Depending on supply, we want to make it available under our free vaccination programme soon, he said.

Sputnik V needs to be stored at 18 degree C. This means that the same cold chain used for polio doses can be used for this vaccine. This will make it easier for the vaccine to reach rural areas. Polio vaccination has slowed down corona vaccination in some areas, Arora said.

Now the corona vaccination will be accelerated from next week. To date, 34 crore vaccines have been administered. By the end of July, 12 to 16 crore doses will be available. In January alone, the Center had said that 50 crore doses would be given by July.

Covishield and Covaxin plays a major role in corona vaccination. According to Arora, in addition to increasing vaccine production, the daily dose of Sputnik V vaccine and new vaccines for Moderna and Zydus Cadila could increase from 50 lakh to 80 lakh or 1 crore. The government's goal is to cover everyone over the age of 18 by the end of this year. According to a recent report from ICMR, a third wave is expected by February or March, Dr Arora said. In such case, the country has 8 months. He also said it's still too early to link the new Delta-plus variant to the possible third wave. India has reported 52 Covid cases involving the variant.