Science Ministry’s statement comes amid a row over a letter by the ICMR setting August 15 – Independence Day – as the target for releasing a novel coronavirus vaccine New Delhi: Approval for human clinical trials for two made-in-India COVID-19 vaccine candidates – COVAXIN and ZyCov-D – marks the “beginning of the end” for the novel coronavirus pandemic that has infected over 1.12 crore people worldwide and left more than 5.3 lakh dead, the government said on Sunday. Striking an optimistic note, a letter by the Ministry of Science and Technology said there were more than 100 vaccine candidates in the world currently, of which 11 were in human trials. “The nod by Drug Controller General of India, CDSCO (Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation), for conduct of human trial for vaccines, marks the beginning of the end,” the ministry’s letter added. Six Indian companies are working on a COVID-19 vaccine. Along with two Indian vaccines, COVAXIN and ZyCov-D, world over 11 out of 140 vaccin...