On the morning of September 21, I went to the city hospital no. 68 in Moscow. As soon as I announced myself, I was called into a room. And I got zapped," says Russian journalist and documentary filmmaker Konstantin Rozhkov, about participating in the pre-launch trial for Sputnik V, the world's first registered vaccine against COVID-19. Manufactured by Russia's Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Biology, the vaccine has established a connect with India even before launching. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has partnered with Indian pharma firm Dr Reddy's Laboratories to conduct its clinical trials in India and distribute it.

When this writer speaks to Rozhkov, he's at the Istanbul airport on a layover to America. It's work as usual, while so many others continue to find themselves in the grip of panic and hindered by restrictions that have changed life as they knew it. Currently part of the documentary team of the state-run RT (formerly Russia Today), he remembers being on the other side a few months ago, when news of the pandemic broke. He was in Moscow with family, and airports shut down, putting a stop to his travel and assignments.