India has 3 Covid-19 vaccines in different phases of clinical testing: ICMR

At present country has three Indian Covid-19 vaccines which are in different phases of clinical testing, said Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Tuesday.

"At the present moment, we have three Indian vaccines which are in different phases of clinical testing. The 2 vaccines- Bharat Biotech vaccine and DNA vaccine of Zydus Cadila have completed phase 1 and will begin phase 2 while third is Oxford vaccine," said Dr Balram Bhargava, DG, ICMR while addressing a press conference here.

"Oxford vaccine, being manufactured by Serum Institute of India (SII) got approval for phase 2 and 3 clinical trials, which are starting within a week at 17 sites," he added.

Dr Bhargava, however, said that social distancing and proper hygiene are the best "vaccine" available now and even after.

"Physical Distancing, wearing a mask, proper hand hygiene are the best vaccine available at the moment and even after. We will have to continue with these measures," he said.

Rajesh Bhushan, Secretary, Health Ministry said the actual caseload of Covid-19 in the country today is 5,86,298 as more than 1.2 million people have already recovered.

India witnessed a single-day spike of 52,050 Covid-19 cases as the total count of cases in the country reached 18,55,746 on Tuesday.

The number of cured/discharged/migrated patients stands at 12,30,510 and 38,938 persons have died, the Health Ministry added.