Rahul Gandhi questions Prime Minister Narendra Modi on COVID-19 vaccine

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asks Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the status of COVID-19 vaccine in India.

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New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday (December 4) expressed hope that Prime Minister Narendra Modi clarifies by when will every Indian get free COVID-19 vaccine.

His remark came ahead of the all-party meeting to be convened by the government to discuss the COVID-19 situation in the country, the vaccine challenges and the way forward.

"In today's all-party meeting, we hope the PM clarifies by when will every Indian get free Covid vaccine," he said on Twitter.

Floor leaders of various parties in Parliament have been invited by the government at the virtual all-party meeting on Friday.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories and Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) have commenced adaptive phase 2/3 clinical trials for the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine in India. This will be a multicentre and randomised controlled study, which will include safety and immunogenicity study. 

The clinical trials are being conducted by JSS Medical Research as a clinical research partner. RDIF had announced the second interim analysis of clinical trial data, which showed 91.4 per cent efficacy for the vaccine on day 28 after the first dose; and efficacy of over 95 per cent 42 days after the first dose.

Earlier on August 11, 2020, the Sputnik V vaccine, developed by the Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, was registered by the Ministry of Health of Russia. It became the world's first registered vaccine against COVID-19 based on the human adenoviral vector platform.