India among 20 countries interested in obtaining Covid-19 vaccine from Russia

NEW DELHI: Russia will begin mass production of the Sputnik V or Covid-19 vaccine in September, and India is among 20 countries which has expressed interest in obtaining it.

Russia Development Investment Fund or RDIF (Russia’s sovereign wealth fund) finances the production of the Sputnik V in Russia on the basis of production capacities of its portfolio companies, R-Pharm and Binnopharm, a part of the Alium Group, according to Russian government statement.

RDIF has seen strong global interest in the vaccine and plans to conduct Phase 3 clinical trials in different countries, including Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Brazil, India and Philippines, and start mass production in other countries in partnership with local sovereign wealth funds, including India, South Korea and Brazil, as well as, in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Cuba, according to the statement.


The plan is to ramp up the vaccine production to 200 million doses by the end of 2020 including 30 million doses in Russia.

At least 20 countries had expressed interest in obtaining the Sputnik V, including UAE, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Philippines, Mexico, Brazil and India.

Russia has become the first country in the world to register a vaccine against COVID-19, President Vladimir Putin announced on Tuesday during a government meeting.

The vaccine was named 'Sputnik V' in reference to the 1957 launch of a Soviet satellite, which opened space to exploration by humans.

The Russian president has asked Health Minister Mikhail Murashko to keep him informed about the vaccine, while at the same time noting that he knows "it works quite effectively" and "forms a stable immunity”

The Russian president also revealed that one of his daughters had been vaccinated against the virus.

Murashko has said that the first Russian vaccine against COVID-19 will begin to be produced at two sites - the Gamaleya Research Institute and the company Binnopharm.