No specific antivirals have been proven effective so far to treat Covid-19: Health Minister in Parliament

Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Minister for Health & Family Welfare updated the members during the monsoon session of the Parliament on COVID pandemic and the steps taken by the Government.

He said that no specific antivirals have been proven effective so far. “Symptomatic treatment for fever and cough, appropriate rehydration, supplemental oxygen therapy remains the mainstay of treatment,” Dr. Harsh Vardhan said.

He added, “We have re-purposed the drug Hydroxychloroquine for mild (but high-risk cases) and for moderate cases. This was done with limited scientific evidence but well acknowledging that this drug has been used widely in India for other ailments where it is used for prolonged periods of time, with good safety profile.”

He further stated that in addition, provisions for investigational therapies has also been made for using Remdesivir, Convalescent plasma and Tocilizumab for managing severe cases under close medical supervision.

He acknowledged that an effective vaccine would be the sure shot tool in armamentarium against this disease and said, “On this front, globally, there are around 145 candidate vaccines in preclinical evaluation and currently 35 vaccines in clinical trial.”

“In India, a major focus has been on facilitating the development of COVID19 vaccine. More than 30 vaccine candidates have been supported which are in different stages of development, 3 candidates are in advanced stage of Phase I/II/III trials and more than 4 are in advanced pre-clinical development stage,” Dr. Harsh Vardhan said.

He added, “COVID-19 Biorepositories have been setup, which have collected more than 40,000 samples which have been made available to researchers and industry for developing diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines.”

To coordinate procurement and distribution of Covid vaccine, Government of India has constituted a National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 on 7th August, 2020, under the Chairmanship of Member (Health), NITI Aayog.