Govt launches online portal for information on COVID-19 vaccine

Union health ministry on Monday launched an online COVID-19 vaccine and clinical registry portal which will provide information related to coronavirus vaccine development in India and abroad. The portal, to be hosted by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), will provide useful and important information related to vaccine development in several regional languages.

Union health minister Harsh Vardhan inaugurated ICMR's COVID-19 vaccine and clinical registry portal and emphasised on the importance of elaborate and transparent information on the status of vaccine development.

"The portal provides useful and important information related to vaccine development, ongoing clinical trials and progress made in this area locally and globally at regular intervals. Today, in the times of COVID, vaccine development is watched very closely. Thus, it becomes important to showcase the status of vaccine development in the country," the minister said.

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Speaking on the occasion, the minister said that the first COVID-19 vaccine in India will most likely be available by the first quarter of 2021.

"Research to develop a vaccine is being done expeditiously. There ar at least 3 viable such vaccine candidates that are in the phase of clinical trials right now in the country. We're hopeful that within first quarter of 2021 it will be available," Vardhan said, reported news agency ANI.

On India's fight against COVID-19, Harsh Vardhan said, "India's continuously rising Recovery Rate and progressively falling Case Fatality Rate have proven the success of the COVID-19 containment strategy followed by all states and UTs. From having 1 lab to over 1,800 labs today, we have come a long way in strengthening our capabilities. We have successfully ramped up our testing capacity which has touched 15 lakh daily tests."

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He also urged people to follow COVID appropriate behaviour. He reminded people about the social vaccine of wearing masks or face covers while in public, following hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette, and maintaining physical distancing to curb spread of the infection.

By Chitranjan Kumar