New Delhi: It was after the claims of Bharat Biotech and the havoc by ICMR that experts believed that announcing the date of August 15 for the Covid-19 vaccine was a hasty and tarnishing move. On the other hand, the World Health Organization also made it clear that the vaccine needs to be safe and effective and it will take six to nine months for any such potential vaccine to be completed (Vaccine Trial).
The matter is that while hastening for the vaccine that India Biotech company is developing Covaxin, Dr. Balram Bhargava of ICMR, India’s top medical research institute, wrote a letter to 12 doctors last week to ensure trial formalities. It was also said that Covaxin could be put into public use from August 15. After this, there was a lot of anger and the question arose whether the vaccine could come so soon!
WHO has clarified the stand on safe vaccine
The Hindu’s report, quoting Soumya Swaminathan, the chief scientist of the top health institution in the world, said that if one guessed very optimistically, it would take six to nine months to complete the first to third phase of the trial. Swaminathan said that the vaccine is necessary and for this to take less time, governments can encourage policy, plan for trials and encourage production as well. However, reducing the time in the trial process is not appropriate.
According to Swaminathan, at least seven Indian companies are involved in vaccine development, this is encouraging, but all of them must first go through trials in harmony with the Department of Biotechnology and ICMR, and only after studying the results can decide which vaccine Is successful. A clear criterion and regulatory standards will make this process easier.
The opinion of other experts is also useful
In the context of Dr. Bhargava’s letter, the experts admitted that such a move shocked the image of a top research institution like ICMR and giving the date of August 15 was a very impractical declaration. The Indian Academy of Sciences said in its statement that haste is possible in the process of administrative approvals, but agreements cannot be made to reduce the time it takes in the scientific process. Another expert’s statement on the claims of Bharat Biotech is notable.
“It is good to be optimistic and ambitious but not at the cost of the agreement with the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine. I expect the claims to be 2020 due to typing mistakes instead of 2021. If it is not, then it will mean that the vaccine will come under incomplete procedures, which will prove to be dangerous.”
K. Sujatha Rao, former Secretary in the Ministry of Health
In a report based on the opinion of experts on such steps of Bharat Biotech and ICMR, Delhi-based vaccineologist Dr. Chandrakant Laharia was quoted as saying, ‘It is clear that we all want a safe and effective vaccine … pregnancy will be nine months old is; This is science and any result before that would be risky. ‘
So there is this ruckus about this vaccine
For which the ruckus that has arisen over the setting of the timeline of August 15, the vaccine against Corona virus is being developed by Hyderabad based pharma company Bharat Biotech and ICMR. The first and second clinical human trials of this Covaxin have been approved by the Drug Controller General of India.
However, giving a date of August 15 for its use is believed to be a direct means that the trial of the third phase of the vaccine will be postponed. Trial of the third phase is considered to be very important in the vaccine development process because in this phase, the effect of the vaccine is understood during the test on a large group.
Obviously, this happens on a large scale, so this phase of the trial takes more time. Swaminathan also called the phase important and said that the WHO is giving full support to the vaccine developers to conduct trials in many countries.
