Sputnik booster dose approved in India, more than 6.5 lakh people eligible: Report

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The Centre has given green signal to Russia-made Sputnik Light as a third precautionary dose and it will soon be available at private vaccination centres throughout the country, as per a report by Hindustan Times. 

More than 6.5 lakh people who have received Sputnik COVID vaccine will soon be eligible to take the booster dose. India had earlier approved a third dose of COVID vaccines – Covaxin and Covishield – for adults. 

Earlier, the NTAGI had recommended that the first dose of the Russian COVID-19 jab could be administered as a precautionary dose, according to a report by news agency PTI.

The two doses of Sputnik V vaccine have different compositions. The first dose of the vaccine contains a recombinant adenovirus type 26 (rAd26-S) and the second dose a recombinant adenovirus 5 (rAd5-S), an official explained. As of now, there is no policy decision on providing a precautionary dose to those inoculated with the Russian vaccine.

“The NTAGI’s Standing Technical Sub-Committee (STSC), which held its meeting on Friday, discussed the issue and recommended that the first dose of Sputnik V can be given as the precaution dose to all those vaccinated with the Russian jab,” a source told PTI.