ICMR may launch COVID vaccine by August 15; India's recovery rate at 60%

Contemplating launching an indigenous COVID-19 vaccine by August 15, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has written to select medical institutions and hospitals to fast-track clinical trial approvals for the vaccine candidate Covaxin being developed in collaboration with Bharat Biotech.

Twelve clinical trial sites have been identified and the apex health research body has asked the medical institutions and principal investigators to ensure that the subject enrolment is initiated no later than July 7.

COVID-19 vaccine candidate Covaxin, developed by the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the ICMR and the National Institute of Virology (NIV), had recently got the nod for human clinical trials from the DCGI.

Noting that this was the first indigenous vaccine being developed by India, ICMR Director General Dr Balram Bhargava in his letter to principal investigators of the 12 sites said that it is one of the “top priority projects which is being monitored at the top-most level of the government”.

“It is envisaged to launch the vaccine for public health use latest by August 15 after completion of all clinical trials. BBIL is working expeditiously to meet the target, however, final outcome will depend on the cooperation of all clinical trial sites involved in this project,” Bhargava said in the letter.

“You have been chosen as a clinical trial site of the BBV152 COVID vaccine. In view of the public health emergency due to COVID-19 pandemic and urgency to launch the vaccine, you are strictly advised to fast track all approvals related to initiation of the clinical trial and ensure that the subject enrolment is initiated no later than July 7,” he said.

Amid queries from media about the authenticity of the letter, ICMR spokesperson Rajnikant Srivastava said, “The letter is genuine and a request has been made to fast track the vaccine trials.”

The vaccine is derived from a strain of SARS-CoV-2 isolated by ICMR-National Institute of Virology, Pune. ICMR and BBIL are jointly working for the preclinical as well as clinical development of this vaccine, the letter mentioned.

The letter warned that any non-compliance will be viewed very seriously. “Kindly note non-compliance will be viewed very seriously. Therefore, you are advised to treat this project on highest priority and meet the given timelines without any lapse,” the letter stated.

A copy of the letter has been sent to Bharat Biotech.

Indias COVID-19 cases soared by over 20,000 in a day for the first time taking the countrys total tally to 6,25,544 on Friday while the death toll climbed to 18,213 with 379 new fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry data.

Early detection, timely management push recovery rate of COVID-19 patients over 60% in India

Meanwhile, the Union health ministry said early detection and a timely clinical management of COVID-19 cases have resulted in increasing daily recoveries, with the recovery rate of coronavirus patients crossing 60 per cent in the country on Friday.

The recovery rate of COVID-19 patients stands at 60.73 per cent, the ministry said.

“Early detection and timely clinical management of COVID-19 cases have resulted in increasing daily recoveries. During the last 24 hours, a sharp rise of recoveries was observed with 20,033 COVID-19 patients having been cured, taking the cumulative figure to 3,79,891,” the ministry said in a statement.

Presently, there are 2,27,439 active coronavirus cases in the country and all are under medical supervision, it added.

A high-level review meeting on COVID-19 preparedness was held by the cabinet secretary with the states and Union territories on Friday, the ministry said. “Coordinated efforts at all levels of government for prevention, containment and management of COVID-19 are showing good results with a consistently increasing gap between recoveries and active cases,” the ministry said.

As on date, there are 1,52,452 recovered COVID-19 cases in the country, which is more than the number of active cases, it added.

In accordance with the “test, trace, treat” strategy and with various measures taken recently to remove all impediments to COVID-19 testing and facilitate widespread testing by the states and Union territories, there has been a steady rise in the number of samples tested for the disease every day, with close to 93 lakh tested till date, the ministry said.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of 92,97,749 samples were tested for COVID-19 up to July 2, with 2,41,576 of those tested on Thursday.

This has also been possible due to the ever-expanding network of testing laboratories in the country, the ministry underlined.

The country currently has 1,074 laboratories for COVID-19 testing — 775 government-run and 299 private — it said.

(With inputs from agencies)