Why in news?

Sputnik Light a single dose vaccine developed by Russia . Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) the force behind the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine aims to bring the single-dose vaccine Sputnik Light to India

Previously Russia developed Sputnik V vaccine which is a two-dose vaccine.

In Sputnik V the first and second dose are different from each other

Sputnik V

Sputnik V  uses heterogeneous recombinant adenovirus .  Sputnik V is a two-vector vaccine. It uses Adeno Virus 26 in the first dose and Adeno Virus 5 in the second dose.

Sputnik V is a Conjugate Vaccine.

Conjugate Vaccine

A Conjugate Vaccine is a vaccine that uses a weak antigen with a strong antigen as a carrier.

Why a single dose now?

- The Sputnik Light vaccine is made from Ad26, which is the first part of the Sputnik V vaccine.

-28 days after vaccination, the Sputnik Light vaccine was 79.4 percent effective against the virus.

-Sputnik V vaccine was sold at 10 USD in other markets. In India it is facing difficulties to compete with AstraZeneca Vaccine , COVISHIELD, which is sold at 2 USD per dose. The price of COVISHIELD is low in India as it is manufactured locally by the Serum Institute of India.

-Sputnik V is imported. It is marketed by Dr Reddy’s Laboratories.

-To compete with COVISHILED and capture the market, the price has to be reduced, which is, highly impossible as the vaccine is being imported. Thus, a single dose vaccine is being launched.

Comparison of Vaccines -