India will examine if single dose vaccine Sputnik Light can protect against COVID-19

India will examine the claim that a single dose of Russian vaccine 'Sputnik Light' can provide protection from the novel coronavirus infection, NITI Aayog member V K Paul said on Friday.

Sputnik V is a two-dose vaccine taken at a gap of three weeks. The unique feature of it is that the antigens in the first and second dose are different from each other. In other vaccines, both doses are the same.

In case of Sputnik Light, they (developers) are saying that the first dose is enough. We are examining this claim. We will go through its data and immunogenicity, and after that we will see. Let more information come in, Paul said at a press conference here.

He was responding to a query if Sputnik Light will be used in India for vaccinating its population against the infection. Paul noted that if the claims of the vaccine developer are true, it can help double the speed of vaccination in India.

It is very promising, if there is protection from single dosage as they have claimed. It is very encouraging and makes us feel very optimistic. Single-dose vaccines can increase the speed of vaccination, but the merit and the processing of their request, as and when it comes, will be based on scientific data and information, he noted.

India's drug regulator had last month granted permission for restricted emergency use of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V with certain conditions.

Russian authorities gave regulatory approval on Thursday to a single-dose version of the country's Sputnik V vaccine, arguing that the move could accelerate the process of achieving herd immunity against the coronavirus.

Sputnik Light is identical to the first dose of the two-dose Sputnik V and has yet to complete the advanced testing needed to ensure its safety and effectiveness in line with established scientific protocols. Russia started human trials of Sputnik Light in January, and the studies are still ongoing, according to official records.

Sputnik Light is the fourth domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine approved in Russia.