The increase in vaccine procurement is good news in terms of daily vaccination numbers, but govt's stated target of 1 crore daily vaccinations still some time away.
Talks are still on with Moderna, Sputnik yet to be procured for the national Covid vaccination programme, which means Covishield and Covaxin will remain the mainstay.
Pune-based vaccine manufacturer SII has already received cell and vector samples for the production of Sputnik V from Russia's Gamaleya Center, the developer of the vaccine.
Dr Reddy's, through which Russia's Sputnik V is available in India, said the timeline was pushed a little further due to import dependency, quality checks.
The permission has been granted for examination, test and analysis of the Sputnik vaccine at SII's licensed Hadapsar facility under certain conditions, official sources said.
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had floated global tender for procurement of 10 million doses of Covid vaccines. Extends deadline for receiving bids to 25 May.
Dubai-based travel agency Arabian Nights Tours has been inundated with calls after a draft flyer of their Delhi-Moscow vaccine tour package was leaked on social media.
This is the game every nation is now learning to play. Some are finding new allies or seeing value among nations where they’d seen marginal interest. The starkest example is India & Europe.
COMMENTS