New Delhi, Oct 18 (IANS): Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday admitted that India is in the community transmission stage.
However, it is limited only to certain districts and states. The statement has come in the backdrop of West Bengal's Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's admission on Monday that the community transmission of Covid-19 has started in the state.
Vardhan's statement was a response to a query made during his weekly webinar, 'Sunday Samvaad' where he interacts with his social media audience.
The query was "Mamta Banerjee has said there are instances of community transmission in the state. Are there other states with community transmission as well?"
To this, the minister responded, "In different pockets across various states, including West Bengal, community transmission is expected to occur, especially in dense areas. However, this is not happening across the country. It is limited to certain districts occurring in limited states."
The admission comes after months of denial. This is the first time that the health minister has acknowledged the community transmission.
Earlier this week, Banerjee had urged people of West Bengal to maintain caution ahead of the upcoming Durga Puja season.
"I ask everybody to follow the Covid-19 safety protocols during the festive season. There are instances of community transmission of Covid-19 and also the contagion becoming airborne," Banerjee was quoted saying.
In July, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had released a guidance document which had inadvertently revealed that community transmission happened in India as early as April.
The document was later taken down from the website of the union health ministry.
Bharat Biotech and Washington Univ developing nasal vax for Covid:
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday informed that Bharat Biotech will develop an intranasal vaccine for Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.
The minister said that the Hyderabad-based drugs and vaccine research and manufacturing company has entered into an agreement with Washington University and St. Louis University for the trials of the nasal vaccine candidate.
"It (Bharat Biotech) has entered into an agreement with Washington University's School of Medicine under which the company will conduct trials, produce and market an intranasal vaccine for the COVID-19," Vardhan told his social media audience at his weekly webinar, Sunday Samvaad.
The minister also informed that the Phase 1 trials of the vaccine candidate will take place in St Louis University's vaccine and treatment evaluation unit while further stages of the trials will be conducted in India.
"Bharat Biotech on receipt of regulatory approval will pursue further stages of clinical trials in India," he added.
Vardhan also informed about the development of another intranasal vaccine by the US-based biotech company Codagenix along with Serum Institute of India.
"Codagenix is collaborating with the Serum Institute of India to develop CDX-005, which is the company's intranasal, live-attenuated vaccine candidate for SARS-CoV-2. The preclinical animal studies have been successfully completed, and Codagenix expects to initiate a Phase 1 first-in-human clinical trial in the UK by the end of 2020," he said.
CDX-005 is a single dose intranasal vaccine made with a live attenuated version of the virus.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has cataloged 169 candidate vaccines for the COVID-19.
The vast majority of these use a dead virus, genetic material from the virus, or components of the virus, such as the spike protein. Only Codagenix and two other developers have used a live attenuated version of the virus.