Single-Dose Sputnik Light COVID Vaccine Gets DCGI Nod

The Drugs Controller General of India, the country's apex medicine and vaccine approving authority has granted permission for emergency use of Single-dose Sputnik Light COVID-19 vaccine in India. The major announcement was made by the Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya. 

The Minister said the emergency use approval of the single-dose vaccine will give a boost to India's fight against Covid-19. 

“This is the 9th COVID19 vaccine in the country. This will further strengthen the nation's collective fight against the pandemic," Mandaviya tweeted.

On February 4, the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of the DCGI had recommended the use of Russia's Sputnik Light one-shot COVID-19 vaccine whose manufacturers claim is capable of generating high immunogenicity among the people in a single shot.

A Lancet study has also shown that a single jab of this vaccine is 78.6-83.7% efficient against COVID-19, which is significantly better than the other two-shot vaccines.

As per claims made by the Sputnik Vaccine website, Sputnik Light is the first component (recombinant human adenovirus serotype number 26 (rAd26)) of Sputnik V and is highly effective as a stand-alone one-shot vaccine and can also work well as a booster.