Apollo Hospitals begins vaccinating employees with Sputnik V

Chennai: Health care major Apollo Hospitals has commenced the pilot launch of Sputnik V vaccine by administering it to its employees from Friday in its efforts to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. In a press release, the hospital said it directly procures the vaccines from the Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Hyderabad, and would be available at Rs 1,145 per dose, including administrative charges at the vaccination centre.

The vaccine with an efficacy of 91.6 per cent is an ”adenoviral vector” vaccine given in two doses. The first dose was given as an ”intramuscular injection” in the upper arm and the second dose administered three weeks later. The soft launch of the vaccination drive was held at the hospital’s Greams Road facility here, the release added.

In 2020, Dr Reddys had partnered with Russian Direct Investment Fund to conduct the clinical trials of Sputnik V and distribute the vaccine in India. Two other vaccines administered in India for COVID-19 are Covaxin manufactured by Bharat Biotech and Covishield by Serum Institute of India.