TMC slams ICMR's mid-August Covid vaccine deadline; says it's for PM Modi's I-Day speech

Trinamool MP Mahua Moitra on Monday, July 6, took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra accusing him of accelerating 'Covaxin vaccine' launch in order to 'spice up' his Independence day speech on August 15. Moitra said that this is  'first time' in history of modern science that a vaccine is having to meet a deline.

Her reaction comes at time when ICMR has fast-tracked BBIL's Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine - Covaxin's clinical trials. On Friday ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava stated that it aims to launch indigeus COVID-19 vaccine by August 15. Covaxin was approved by DCGI recently to proceed to clinical trials after it showed promise in its pre-clinical data.

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Congress slams ICMR

Congress party also criticised hurriedness of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for planning to launch its indigeus COVID vaccine by mid-August. Congress leer Jairam Ramesh claimed that it was dangerous to 'anunce delines' in order to make helines. Terming ICMR 'Sarvagyani’, Congress leer said that anuncing delines could destroy ICMR's credibly and violate its rms and safety protocols. 

ICMR Fast-tracks 'Covaxin' Vaccine launch

In view of public health emergency due to Coronavirus pandemic, country's apex medical body has selected 12 institutes across country and has vised m to expedite approvals and complete recruiting for trials by 7 July. "Kindly te that n-compliance will be viewed seriously," letter states, ding that institutions must treat this project on highest priority and meet given timelines without any lapse.

Apart from Odisha, institutes selected for clinical trial are located in Visakhapatnam, Rohtak (Haryana), New Delhi, Patna, Belgaum (Karnataka), Nagpur (Maharashtra), Gorakhpur, Kanpur (UP), Kattankulathur (Tamil Nu), Hyderab, Arya Nagar and Goa.

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