Sputnik V vaccine could be available for use in India by next week: Govt

Centre says it has already procured 350 million vaccine doses for the ongoing vaccination drive and more than 2 billion vaccine doses will be manufactured in India between August and December

The union government on Thursday said that Russia's Sputnik vaccine will likely be available for use by next week and also the local production of the shot will begin in July.

"Sputnik vaccine has arrived in India. I am happy to say that we are hopeful that it will be available in the market next week. We're hopeful that the sale of the limited supply that has come from there (Russia), will begin next week," said Dr VK Paul, Member (Health) of NITI Aayog.

Sputnik V is the third vaccine India has given go-ahead to after Covishield and Covaxin. Covishield