Human clinical trials for a vaccine for Covid-19 have been initiated in the country with approximately 1,000 volunteers participating in the exercise for each of the two indigenously developed vaccine candidates, the ICMR said on Tuesday.
Since India is one of the largest vaccine producers in the world, it is the country’s “moral responsibility” to fast-track vaccine development process to break the chain of coronavirus transmission, ICMR Director General Dr Balram Bhargava said, referring to the two vaccine candidates developed indigenously.
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has permitted two vaccines – one developed by Bharat Biotech International Limited in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research and another one by Zydas Cadila Healthcare Ltd to go in for the first and second phase of human clinical trials.