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 the 'Covaxin vaccine' launch in order to 'spice up' his Independence day speech on August 15. Moitra said that this is the 'first time' in the history of modern science that a vaccine is having to meet a deadline.

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

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Congress slams ICMR

The Congress party also criticised the hurriedness of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for planning to launch its indigenous COVID vaccine by mid-August. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh claimed that it was dangerous to 'announce deadlines' in order to make headlines. Terming the ICMR 'Sarvagyani’, the Congress leader said that announcing deadlines could destroy ICMR's credibly and violate its norms and safety protocols. 

ICMR Fast-tracks 'Covaxin' Vaccine launch

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

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

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