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Coronavirus pandemic

Talks on Sputnik Light production in India close to completion, says Lavrov

The agreement on the production of the two-component vaccine Sputnik V in the republic is also being implemented, the minister added

© Russian Foreign Ministry/TASS

NEW DELHI, December 6. /TASS/. The talks on the production of the Russian anti-coronavirus jab Sputnik Light in India are nearing completion, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters following the talks with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and the Russia-India consultations in the 2+2 format between the two countries’ defense and foreign ministers on Monday.

"The talks on Sputnik Light are nearing completion," he said when asked a respective question.

The agreement on the production of the two-component vaccine Sputnik V in the republic is also being implemented, the minister added. "Quite a large scale is expected - around hundred million doses each year," he said.

In mid-September, a committee of experts under the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) issued a permit for intermediate tests of the third (final) stage of Sputnik Light studies in India. Once approved, Sputnik Light will be the first one-dose coronavirus vaccine to be used in India.

India currently uses three vaccines, including Covishield developed by the British-Swedish company AstraZeneca and produced by India's Serum Institute, Covaxin produced by India's Bharat Biotech, and Russia's Sputnik V. Two US vaccines, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, have recently also been approved for emergency use in the country, though the vaccination using those jabs has not started yet in India.

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