Dr. Reddy's, Apollo Hospitals launch pilot vaccination project in Hyd, Vizag for Sputnik V
Apollo Hospitals and Dr. Reddy's Laboratories on 17 May announced the launch of a limited pilot programme for the Sputnik V vaccine as part of the soft launch for the vaccine in India.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 17 May 2021 12:41 PM GMT
Hyderabad: Apollo Hospitals and Dr. Reddy's Laboratories on 17 May announced the launch of a limited pilot programme for the Sputnik V vaccine as part of the soft launch for the vaccine in India.
The first phase of the programme will kick off with vaccinations in Hyderabad on Monday and in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday (18 May) at the Apollo Hospitals in those cities. The vaccinations would follow the SOPs as recommended by the government, including registration on CoWIN.
On Monday, Apollo announced a tie-up with Dr. Reddy's, which is importing the vaccine into the country. Earlier this month, Dr. Reddy's had received 1.5 lakh doses of the vaccine. It is these doses that will be distributed by Apollo. The vaccine will reportedly be priced at Apollo at Rs. 1,200-1,250 per dose.
K. Hari Prasad, the president (hospitals division) of Apollo Hospitals Enterprises Limited, said that with the opening up of the vaccination programme for the private sector, they have intensified efforts to accelerate the rate of vaccination through opening vaccination centres across their hospital network.
He added that they are in discussions with corporates to undertake vaccination on their premises. "We are currently administering COVID vaccine at 60 locations across the country, including Apollo Hospitals, Apollo Spectra hospitals, and Apollo clinics. This pilot phase will allow Dr. Reddy's and Apollo to test the arrangements and cold chain logistics and prepare for the launch. We are confident that with the Sputnik V vaccine, we will be able to make a significant contribution to ease availability and access to COVID vaccines to the community at large," said Mr. Prasad.
M.V Ramana, the CEO (branded markets) of Dr. Reddy's said they were working to scale up the pilot and take the vaccine to other cities. "In the upcoming months we hope to inoculate as many Indians as possible," he added.
The Sputnik V vaccines for the pilot programme would be supplied by Dr. Reddy's from the first batch of 1,50,000 vaccine doses imported by them for the soft launch. After Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam, the pilot programme will be extended to Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Kolkata, and Pune.
Dr. Reddy's also announced that the imported doses will be priced at Rs. 948 + 5% GST, or Rs 995.4 per dose. The company said it is looking at the possibility of a lower price point when local supply begins. Dr Reddy's received a second consignment of 60,000 doses on 16 May.
