Looking for COVID-19 vaccine update? Use this government portal
As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to surge across different parts of India, everyone has just one question on their mind: When will a vaccine be available? Now, to answer this with full transparency, the Government of India has launched a dedicated portal to provide detailed and up to date information on COVID-19 vaccines in development. Here's all about it.
A microsite of ICMR for COVID-19 vaccines in India
Launched on Monday by Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan, the new COVID-19 vaccine portal is a microsite of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). It can be accessed by either heading over to icmr.gov.in and clicking on 'Vaccine Portal' or directly visiting vaccine.icmr.org.in. Once you land on the portal, you can find the latest information on COVID-19 vaccines moving through trials in India.
Foreign COVID-19 vaccines' information also available
For the COVID-19 vaccines being developed in India, the site shows information about the shots, their developers, and the Phase of trial they are going through, with links to scientific reports of completed studies. Along with that, the portal also redirects the visitors to the draft landscape of WHO where they can find details of all global vaccines in clinical and pre-clinical trials.
Initiatives for other diseases also detailed
Among other things, the portal also highlights local studies being carried out in connection with other diseases, including HIV, MMR, Cholera, Hepatitis, Typhoid, Polio, and pneumococcal diseases. Some reports say that it will also provide information on vaccines related to other diseases in the future. This way, it will highlight India's vaccine efforts to fight several life-threatening diseases.
"Important to showcase vaccine status"
While launching the portal, Dr. Vardhan said, "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." Currently, India has three vaccine candidates in clinical human trials - two homegrown shots in Phase 2 and one licensed from AstraZeneca in Phase 3.
