October 18, 2020: Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare Dr Harsh Vardhan on Sunday said that as of now no mutation of coronavirus has been detected in India.

The Health Minister assured that as of yet, no mutation of coronavirus has been detected in India, which is either more transmission efficient or more pathogenic.

"I can assure you that as of now no mutation of coronavirus has been detected in India," he said and answered many inquisitive social media interactors on the sixth episode of Sunday Samvaad.

He rekindled the joy of having morning tea in a respondent by reassuring him that there is no scientific evidence that proves that novel coronavirus transmission can happen via newspapers. He shared that reading newspapers is completely safe even during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr Harsh Vardhan remarked that although there are no intranasal COVID-19 vaccines under trial in India at the moment, Serum India and Bharat Biotech are expected to pursue clinical trials of such vaccines in India in the coming months on receipt of regulatory approval.

He clarified that the phase III clinical trial is ongoing with thousands of participants, sometimes even close to 30,000 to 40,000 participants. It is possible that from a specific city or hospital, a couple of hundred participants are selected at a given time, but in general, the overall Phase III participant pool is much larger.

Sharing details on the Special Drive for Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) reporting and monitoring of drugs used in COVID-19, Dr Harsh Vardhan clarified that this special drive is not because of an adverse reaction reported with an existing drug, but is part of a proactive COVID-19 preparedness programme.