The Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI) has declined the proposal of pharmaceutical company Dr Reddy’s Laboratories to conduct a large study of Russia’s Sputnik-V COVID-19 vaccine in the country.
As per reports, the trials of Sputnik-V were conducted only on a small group of overseas population.
Moreover, many health experts raised concerns over the safety of the vaccine as it was rolled out within a short period of time even before large-scale trials were completed.
The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which is marketing the Sputnik-V, and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories last month announced their partnership to run clinical trials and distribute the vaccine in India.
Union health minister Harsh Vardhan recently said that the decision to conduct the third phase trial ofSputnik-V in India would be taken after much deliberation.
Three vaccine candidates are at present under trial in India which is one of the countries that has been worse hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
Meanwhile, India on Thursday recorded a total of 68,35,656 COVID-19 cases with a spike of 78,524 new cases in the last 24 hours.
India also recorded 971 deaths, taking the national toll to over 1.05 lakh at 1,05,526.
According to the union health ministry, there are a total of 9,02,425 active cases and 58,27,705 people have been cured and discharged.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that India’s coronavirus fight is people-driven and gets great strength from its corona warriors.
He also made the appeal to people to follow social distancing norms and expressed confidence that the fight against the pandemic will be won.