By P. Sarojini’
      New Delhi (CWBN)_ Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said on Sunday that Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech are expected to proceed with late-stage clinical trials of intranasal COVID-19 vaccines in the coming months once after the regulatory approval. He added that generally around thousands of participants (30,000 to 40,000) will be involved in the late-stage trial of vaccine.
      According to the World Health Organization (WHO), all the vaccines currently in the Phase III trials are administered only through injections.
      On Saturday, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said that the renewed approval was granted to conduct late-stage clinical trials in India of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine. In spite of the health ministry’s report showing a steady decline in active cases, the corona-positive cases rose by another 61,871 in the last 24 hours across the country as of Sunday.
 Another report said that after the WHO found some of the commonly used drugs for covid treatment including remdesivir had little or no effect on patient’s recovery, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said that it will revisit its protocol for COVID-19 treatment.
 An expert panel stated that the COVID-19 peak can be brought under control by early next year if all necessary measures are complied with.
