The much awaited first consignment of Sputnik V vaccine landed at GMR Hyderabad Air Cargo on Saturday as forces unite to battle the COVID-19 pandemic in India.Last month the Drug Controller General (DCGI) had issued permission for Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories to import the Russian vaccine to India for emergency use. The roll out of the Russian vaccine is expected to augment India’s third phase of the vaccination drive which commenced today amid a record rise in COVID-19 cases.Sputnik V is the third vaccine India has given the go-ahead to after ‘Covishield’, developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca and ‘Covaxin’, the indigenous vaccine manufactured by Bharat Biotech. Covishield is manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.Diplomatic sources had told ANI that India will get a substantive number of vaccines in the first tranche and the supply will continue in installments. India is expecting 5 million vials of Sputnik vaccines by the next month. -article writerSyeda Mehrukh Naaz
