Coronavirus India Updates: India Approves Russia’s Sputnik V Vaccine As Cases Spike In Second Wave

India reported more than 1.5 lakh Covid-19 infections for the second consecutive day, as the government allowed Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine to be administered in India.

Nearly 1.7 lakh people tested positive for the coronavirus in the last 24 hours, the most in any single day, according to the Health Ministry’s update as of 8:00 a.m. on April 12.

Active cases stood above 12 lakh for the first time ever.

Key Figures

• Total number of confirmed cases: 1,35,27,717
• Active cases: 12,01,009
• Total cured/discharged/migrated: 1,21,56,529
• Total deaths: 1,70,179
• New infections in 24 hours: 1,68,912
• Recoveries in a day: 75,086
• Deaths in a single day: 904
• Total vaccination shots given: 10,45,28,565

Sputnik V Allowed For Emergency Use

The Indian government has given emergency use approval to Russia's Sputnik V vaccine for Covid-19 amid a second wave, Bloomberg reported citing people familiar with the matter.

Dr. Reddy's Laboratories has partnered with Russia to supply the vaccine. The drugmaker had approached the government seeking approval in February after the shot was deemed safe in phase 2 human trials in January.

Besides Dr. Reddy's, Russia has also tied up with Gland Pharma Ltd., Panacea Biotech Ltd., Virchow Biotech Private Ltd. and Stelis Biopharma to produce the vaccine.

Sputnik V will be the third vaccine that will administered in India. Till now, the country has been using AstraZeneca-Oxford's Covishield, manufactured by Serum Institute of India, and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin.

Despite early skcepticism, the Russian vaccine is seeing countries line up for supply after peer-reviewed results showed it had 91.6% efficacy, putting it on par with shots from Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc.

In an interim analysis of phase 3 trial, Sputnik V has shown an efficacy rate of 91.6% in participants.

Track all developments around the Covid-19 outbreak in India here.