Seventeen volunteers were administered Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine at a Pune hospital in Maharashtra as part of phase-II human clinical trials. Sputnik V vaccine has been developed by the Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology and Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF). As per information, India has purchased 100 million doses of the candidate from Russia. Dr. S K Raut, Head of Clinical Research Department of Noble Hospital said that Seventeen healthy volunteers were administered Sputnik V vaccine in the last three days as part of human trials.
The selection of the volunteers was done as per the laid-down norms as they need to be healthy, doctors said. The third phase trials of the vaccine are planned to be held at the KEM Hospital Research Centre located near Pune. According to the Clinical Trial Registry- India (CTRI), a total of 1,600 subjects are planned to be roped in for these trials (100 in phase-II and 1,500 in phase-III).Besides Pune, trials for this vaccine are also planned to be held in Lucknow and Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh), Jaipur(Rajasthan), Vellore (Tamil Nadu), Mysore (Karnataka) and Puducherry. Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Limited and Sputnik LLC are jointly conducting these trials.
