ICMR sets Aug 15 vaccine deadline; doubts raised

NEWDELHI: India’s topmost medical research body Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said on Friday that it is attempting to launch the world’s first Covid-19 vaccine on August 15, triggering disbelief among scientists who say the process requires painstaking trials and analysis and cannot reliably be completed in the six weeks that remain for the deadline.

The plan was disclosed in a letter by the Indian Council of Medical Research to 12 institutes where human trials are to be held for the vaccine, Covaxin, ordering them to secure necessary approvals from internal committees by July 7 with a warning that “non-compliance will be viewed very seriously”.

The vaccine has been jointly developed by Indian Council of

Medical Research and Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech (BBIL), with the latter itself previously indicating that a vaccine could take more time. In a report on Wednesday, Bharat Biotech chairman and managing director Krishna Ella said that if clinical trials of Covaxin

met safety and efficacy standards, the vaccine could be available for mass use by early 2021.

But ICMR has other plans as evident in the do-or-die tone of its letter.