Patna (Bihar) [India], June 28 (ANI): Stating that Russian COVID-19 vaccine 'Sputnik V' is over 90 per cent effective and other vaccines including Covishield and Covaxin are already available for free at government hospitals, Arun Kumar, Medical Director of Jay Prabha Medanta Hospital, Patna said that their hospital is using Sputnik V for vaccination.

Speaking to ANI, Kumar said, "We are using Sputnik for vaccination due to its efficacy which is 92 per cent as per scientific reports. Secondly, Covishield and Covaxin are available for free at government hospitals, no point in duplicating that (vaccinating the same at private hospitals)."He stated that the hosptal had ordered only 600 doses but owing to good public response, the hosptal ran out of stock in just three days. Kumar said that the hosptal has placed an order for 2000 to 3000 more doses of Sputnik V.

"We had ordered only 600 doses of Sputnik, but it's surprising to see the public response. It's not even 3 days and we are out of stock. We have ordered another 2000-3000 doses," added Kumar.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories, the marketing partner for Russian vaccine Sputnik V in the country, has been importing the doses from Russia.

Taking to Twitter, the official handle of the Russian vaccine on Tuesday affirmed that Sputnik V's efficacy is better on the Delta variant of COVID-19 than any other vaccine that has published results on the strain so far.

"RDIF: SputnikV is more efficient against the Delta variant of coronavirus, first detected in India than any other vaccine that published results on this strain so far-- the Gamaleya Center study submitted for publication in an international peer-reviewed journal," Sputnik V on Tuesday tweeted.

In a recent statement over the pilot phase for Sputnik V, Dr Reddy's laboratories said that they aim to reach 28 cities in total.

"Our pilot phase initiated on May 14 in Hyderabad has been scaled up to Vizag, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, Miryalaguda, Vijayawada, Baddi, Kolhapur, Raipur, Chandigarh, Pune, Nagpur, Ranchi, Jaipur so far. By the end of this final leg of the pilot phase. We aim to reach 28 cities in total. We will continue to share updates related to Sputnik V," added Dr Reddy's laboratories. (ANI)