The idea of vaccine tourism is gaining momentum in the country where Indians are considering going abroad for doses of Covid-19 vaccine. Travel agents are finally picking up their business after a lull due to the pandemic and the customers looking to make a two-in-one vacation and vaccination trip with the destination being Russia.
A travel agency in Delhi has announced a vaccine tourism package which includes a 24-day Russia tour and two doses of the Sputnik-V vaccine. There will be a gap of 21 days between the two doses of the vaccine and during that time the travellers will be touring Russia.
Russian authorities have also nodded to the vaccine vacations to the country and with the wedding season around the corner, agents are expecting travellers, especially honeymooners to boost business.
As per rough plans, these packages will be priced at Rs 2.2-2.4 lakh per person for a 24-day stay at 3-star hotels in Moscow (20 days) and St Petersburg (4 days), inclusive of sight-seeing and guided tours.
A spokesperson from the Russia visa application centre said, “Indian citizens can apply for any type of visa at the moment and the visa centre in New Delhi is operational.”
As for the international flights from India to Russia, according to a MakeMyTrip spokesperson, “Indian passport holders can travel to Russia right now. There is no restriction as of now.” However, given the current pandemic situation, visa rules and flight status are not fixed. It is advisable to check before embarking on any foreign trip at the moment.
Sputnik-V, in a tweet on its official account on April 3, also had a teaser on vaccine tourism. “Sputnik V vaccination in Russia! Who’s on board?”, it had posted on its account, with a photograph of people next to a plane with Sputnik written on it.
Sputnik V made its debut made its debut this Tuesday on the CoWIN portal. Two batches of Sputnik V have arrived in the country in the month of May with more batches to come to aid the country’s vaccination process. Moreover, the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) which handles the supply of Sputnik V has been eyeing to manufacture nearly 850 million doses of the vaccine in India annually.
