COVID-19: Two Indian vaccine candidates in phase 2 trials, says Niti Aayog member

Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine candidate based on inactivated virus procured by ICMR and Zydus Cadila's candidate based on viral DNA are two Indian vaccines in the second phase trial, Niti Aayog member Dr. Vinod K Paul said on Saturday.

Taking part in the 20th meeting of the High-level Group of Ministers (GoM) on COVID-19 in New Delhi, which was chaired by the Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Paul said 29 candidates, including two Indian vaccine candidates, are in clinical trials and six are in third phase trials.

"In India, Bharat Biotech's vaccine candidate based on inactivated virus procured by ICMR is in the Phase II trial along with Zydus Cadila's candidate which is based on viral DNA. The Oxford vaccine candidate developed by Serum Institute of India is already in Phase III trial in Maharashtra and some other States," he said.

Paul also informed the GoM of the progress made by the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19. The group is tasked with facilitation of vaccine development including issues of trial and stockpiling, sorting out issues of financing, risk management, selection of potential beneficiaries and their order of reference, envisioning logistics, scale-up, digital system, defining principles for selecting beneficiary categories, and defining the scientific basis for selecting vaccine. Three meetings of the Expert Group have been held so far.

Meanwhile, Rajesh Bhushan, Health Secretary apprised the GOM on the efforts made by the Health Ministry towards mental health during the pandemic. He also stated that the Central Government was in direct communication with the States that were reporting a surge in cases and those with higher mortality rates. These were being guided towards measures that would result in saving lives and speedy recoveries.

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Coronavirus outbreak

India's COVID-19 tally raced past 34 lakh with a single-day spike of 76,472 cases on Saturday. The total number of COVID-19 cases rose to 34,63,972, while the death toll due to the disease climbed to 62,550 with 1,021 people succumbing to it in a span of 24 hours, the ministry's data updated at 8 am showed.

The health ministry added that with the rapid increase in the number of cases, the total number of tests so far is nearing to four crore and more than one crore samples have been tested for COVID in the last two weeks. The release added that the tests per million has also witnessed a huge surge to 28,607.

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