Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech would be pursuing late stage clinical trials of intranasal COVID-19 vaccines once they receive regulatory approval, union health minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan said.

The late-stage trial will likely involve thousands of participants, varying from 30,000 to 40,000.

"Flumist nasal spray is a vaccine that is sprayed into the nose to help protest against influenza; it is not a Covid-19 vaccine. At present in India, there is no intranasal Covid vaccine which is under clinical trials. However, Serum Institute (of India) has begun manufacturing Codagenix CDX 005, which is an intranasal live attenuated vaccine candidate for Sars-Cov-2," he said.

"The phase 1 trials will take place in the US in St. Louis University's vaccine and treatment evaluation unit, on getting regulatory approval, Bharat Biotech will pursue further stages of clinical trials in India," he added.

Meanwhile, a reuters report stated that the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said it will revisit its protocol for COVID-19 treatment after the WHO found some of the commonly used drugs, including remdesivir, had little or no impact on a patient's chances of surviving.

Additionally, on Saturday, Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said they have received renewed approval to conduct late-stage clinical trials in India of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine.