Covid: India's first mRNA vaccine under final trials, says govt

India's first homegrown Messenger RNA (mRNA) Covid19 vaccine, being developed by Pune-based Gennova Biopharmaceuticals, is currently under final clinical trials, NITI Aayog's Member, Health, Dr V.K. Paul, said on Thursday.

Briefing the media, he said that they are hopeful that they will be able to use this vaccine soon.

"We need mRNA platform because it has shown that vaccines developed on this platform, at least for Covid-19, have been effective worldwide," said Paul, adding that beyond Covid, this platform will continue to be important as an option for future for other diseases also for which vaccines have been elusive. He termed it as an great development.

Indian Council of Medical Research Director General, Dr Balram Bhargava, said that this is another vaccine which really establishes that India is heading towards becoming a vaccine superpower.

"Because large parts of the population are vaccinated, we are not seeing the disastrous third Covid surge in terms of hospitalisations and mortality," he said.

About the ongoing pandemic situation, Dr Paul said that the world had learned a great deal about pandemic and the virus, but doesn't know everything.

The world should remain united to fight this virus and should continue to use the tools that are at our disposal, he added.

"Some states including Kerala, Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh are still reporting a large number of cases. We cannot lower our guard," he said