Chhattisgarh Health Minister T S Singh Deo maintained on Saturday that the Covid-19 vaccine developed in India -- Covaxin -- must not be used to inoculate people in the state as the developers are yet to publish the third-phase trial data of the vaccine.

“The vaccine has been approved for 'emergency use (by the Drug Controller General of India). Its use should be avoided until its complete results are out," Deo told the media.

He said that he was not "confident" to urge people to take the vaccine, as per media reports.

Deo further added: "In my opinion, it should not be allowed in the state. As of now, I am not confident of asking people to accept this vaccine."

This comes as Chhattisgarh recently finished a vaccination dry run in its 28 districts.

This comes after the Covid-19 vaccine candidate, who was administered Covaxin during the Phase 3 trials, passed away.

The vaccine was developed by Indian biotechnology company Bharat Biotech. As per previous reports, the company had released a statement on Saturday that cited the cardiorespiratory failure of the candidate, owing to suspected poisoning, as the probable cause of death. The statement mentioned that the case is under police investigation.

Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh has reported around 287000 cases of Covid-19, with 3454 deaths reported so far. 274000 have recovered from the virus till now, as per Google dashboard.

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