Covid-19: DCGI nod to emergency use of single-dose Sputnik Light vaccine

India's Covid-19 Vaccine drive: The drug regulator DCGI (Drugs Controller General of India) granted emergency use permission to Single-dose Sputnik Light Covid-19 vaccine in India, informed Union health minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya on Sunday. Sputnik Light is the ninth vaccine for adults in the country to obtain restricted-use approval from the Drugs Controller General of India. “This will further strengthen the nation’s collective fight against the pandemic,” tweeted the Union Health Minister.

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DCGI has granted emergency use permission to Single-dose Sputnik Light COVID-19 vaccine in India. This is the 9th #COVID19 vaccine in the country. This will further strengthen the nation’s collective fight against the pandemic.

- Dr Mansukh Mandaviya (@mansukhmandviya) 7 Feb 2022

An expert panel of India's central drug authority recommended this week that the single-dose Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik Light be granted restricted emergency use authorization (EUA). On July 1 of last year, India's drug regulator refused to grant Sputnik Light a EUA. Also Read | Punjab schools to reopen from Feb 7; masks mandatory in public places Sputnik Light, developed by Russia's Gamaleya Center, is based on a human adenovirus vector platform, which uses a proxy and a harmless virus to stimulate an immune response. Component-1 of the Russian two-dose Sputnik V vaccine used in India's vaccination drive is the same as Sputnik Light. So far, nearly 12 lakh doses of Sputnik V have been administered in India as part of the vaccination effort. The single-shot vaccine had shown around 70% efficacy against infection by the Delta variant, according to the Russian Direct Investment Fund, which backs and funds Sputnik. According to RDIF, the vaccine can be used as a booster dose against the Omicron variant. “A preliminary study of the Gamaleya Center has found Sputnik Light significantly increases virus neutralising activity against Omicron based on sera 2-3 months after revaccination with 100% of individuals revaccinated with Sputnik Light as a booster having developed neutralizing antibodies against this variant,” it added. Sputnik Light can be "the solution to boost efficacy and duration of other vaccines, especially against Omicron variant," according to RDIF's head Kirill Dmitriev. Also Read | Punjab Elections 2022: Congress announces Charanjit Singh Channi as CM face -PTC News