Published in: The Daily Star

Date: 18 Oct 2020

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday said there are requests from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Qatar and Bhutan for clinical trials of Covid-19 vaccine.

Indian scientists and research teams are collaborating and strengthening research capacities in neighbouring countries — Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Mauritius, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Three vaccines are at the advanced stages of development in India and two of them are in Phase-II and one is in Phase-III.

In an effort to help the global community, Modi directed that they should not limit their efforts to their immediate neighbourhood but also reach out to the entire world in providing vaccines, medicines and IT platforms for the vaccine delivery system.

Modi was reviewing the Covid-19 pandemic situation in his country and the preparedness of vaccine delivery, distribution, and administration, according to the Press Information Bureau of India.

The meeting was attended by Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Principal Secretary to PM, Member (Health) NITI Aayog, Principal Scientific Advisor, Senior Scientists, officers of PMO, and other departments of the Indian government.

Modi noted the steady decline in the daily Covid cases and growth rate.

He appealed for social distancing, Covid appropriate behaviour, and self-restraint in the upcoming festival season.

National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for Covid-19 (NEGVAC) in consultation with state governments and all relevant stakeholders have prepared and presented a detailed blueprint of vaccine storage, distribution, and administration.

Modi directed that keeping in view the geographical span and diversity of the country, the access to the vaccine should be ensured speedily.

He stressed that every step in the logistics, delivery, and administration should be put in place rigorously.

It must include advanced planning of cold storage chains, distribution network, monitoring mechanism, advance assessment, and preparation of ancillary equipment required, such as vials and syringes.

Two Pan India studies on the Genome of SARSCoV-2 (Covid-19 virus) in India conducted by ICMR and D/o Bio-Technology (DBT) suggest that the virus is genetically stable and there is no major mutation in the virus.

Source:

https://www.thedailystar.net/frontpage/news/bangladesh-asked-be-clinical-trials-1980009