Amid the raging second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in India, the country will start receiving consignments of Russian Sputnik V vaccine doses from May 1 onwards. India is expected to receive 5 million doses of the vaccine by June. According to media reports, around 150,000 to 200,000 doses of the vaccine will be delivered by early May and another 3 million doses by May end.

After Covishield and Covaxin, Sputnik V, developed by Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Moscow, is the third Covid-19 vaccine to get emergency use approval in India. According to the guidelines, the vaccine is indicated for active immunisation to prevent Covid-19 in individuals over 18 years of age and it needs to be stored at a temperature of minus 18-degree Celsius in liquid form.