ICMR launches a new vaccine portal for Covid, with details of trials

The portal covers other ailments as well; will provide details of progress made locally and globally at regular intervals

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Monday launched a vaccine and clinical registry portal to provide information on Covid-19 and other vaccines.

The portal, inaugurated by health and family welfare minister Harsh Vardhan, is a repository of information on development of vaccines and ongoing clinical trials, and will offer details of progress made locally and globally at regular intervals. 

The website has the details of animal trials, which have been conducted through various coronavirus vaccines currently under development, genome sequences of the virus along with academic papers on India’s vaccine preparedness.

A paper on the website, “Revisiting regulatory framework in India for accelerated vaccine development in pandemics with an evidence-based fast-tracking strategy”, published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research, talks of various phases of the emergency use authorisation of a Covid vaccine in the country. 

The portal is expected to be updated as more data on various vaccines becomes available.

As of now three vaccine candidates are the frontrunners in India: Zydus Cadila, Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute for Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

Serum Institute of India is conducting the India trials for the coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford-AstraZeneca, Covishield.

The company has entered phase three of the trials of the vaccine. Zydus Cadila and Bharat Biotech have completed the recruitments for phase two trial. Phase two human clinical trials for Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin and Zydus Cadila’s ZyCoV-D are ongoing, according to information on the vaccine portal.

India has used the Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN) to track information on vaccine supply chain and stocks across the country during the Covid-19 pandemic. This was done to ensure smooth immunisation across the country. This system provides real-time information on stocks and storage temperatures across registered vaccine storage sites in India.