NEW DELHI : The single-dose Sputnik Light COVID-19 vaccine is expected to launch soon in India said Russian envoy Nikolay Kudashev on Wednesday.

“Sputnik V being part of the Indian vaccination campaign is gradually increasing. The launch of the Sputnik Light vaccine is also expected soon,” said Kudashev while speaking about the outcomes of the Russian-Indian foreign ministers’ talks in Moscow.

He also said: “We are committed to continuing discussion on mutual recognition of vaccination certificates. A lot of attention is paid to promote further coordination with the United Nations Security Council, which India will be chairing this August.”

Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is expecting to release the results of Sputnik V and Astrazeneca ‘mix and match’ vaccine by the end of July.

In a press briefing, Kirill Dmitriev, CEO, RDIF informed that high efficacy is expected from the trials.

“We expect to release the results of Sputnik V and Astrazeneca mix and match by the end of July. This approach has been really pioneered by Sputnik V in the beginning. So we are open for mix and match a Covishield in India. We believe there will be a great result. Covishield is the same vaccine as Astrazeneca so we believe that trials will show high efficacy. We hope that the Serum Institute of India (SII) can produce Sputnik V and mix and match as well. It will be a true partnership,” said Dmitriev.

However, the first batch of Sputnik vaccines is expected to be produced at SII’s facilities in September, and both parties intend to produce over 300 million doses of the vaccine in India per year.

India is the leading production hub for the Sputnik vaccine. RDIF had earlier reached agreements with a number of pharmaceutical companies in India (Gland Pharma, Hetero Biopharma, Panacea Biotec, Stelis Biopharma, Virchow Biotech and Morepen) for the production of the Russian vaccine. (ANI)