Officials who appeared before a parliamentary panel on Friday said no vaccine for coronavirus will be ready before next year, sources told CNN-News18.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Climate Change met for the first time today since the lockdown due to COVID-19 was enforced on March 25. The panel headed by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh held its first meeting since Parliament was adjourned on March 23, ahead of its scheduled time.
Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Dr Balram Bhargava had earlier 2 written to principal investigators of select medical institutions and hospitals to fast-track human clinical trial approvals for the vaccine candidate ‘Covaxin’ being developed in collaboration with Bharat Biotech.
After criticism by scientists and experts, the ICMR in a statement on July 4 said the letter was meant to cut unnecessary red tape, without bypassing any necessary process, and speed up recruitment of participants.
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has permitted two vaccines — one developed by the Bharat Biotech International Limited in collaboration with ICMR and another by Zydus Cadila Healthcare Ltd — to go in for phase 1 and 2 human clinical trials.
The sites for phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials have been finalised and the trials are yet to begin.
