New Delhi: The earliest possible time by when a vaccine against Covid-19 would be ready in India could be the first quarter of 2021, government officials informed members of the Rajya Sabha standing committee on science and technology Friday.
Senior officials from the Department of Science and Technology, the Department of Biotechnology, CSIR, and the principal scientific advisor gave a presentation before the committee on India’s preparedness for Covid-19 and beyond.
Headed by senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, the parliamentary panel held discussions — the first one on Covid-related issues — that mainly revolved around the various vaccine-related research going on in the country.
“MP’s mostly wanted to know when the vaccine would be ready in India and if the 15 August timeline given by the ICMR for launching the vaccine against Covid-19 is realistic. Officials from the different science-related departments, however, did not talk about the 15 August deadline and kept reiterating that various researches are under way,” a Parliament source told ThePrint.
“When pressed for a timeline, the officials told the MP’s that human trials have begun and the earliest possible vaccine could be ready by the first quarter of 2021,” the source added.
On 3 July, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) director general Dr Balram Bhargava had in a letter to the principal investigators in the Covaxin trial asked for the Covid-19 vaccine to be launched by 15 August.
The MPs also wanted to know about issues such as herd immunity, and if a recovered Covid patient can get infected again. “Officials from one of the departments, which made a presentation, said at least 60% of the population has to get infected with the novel coronavirus for the herd immunity to set in. Without herd immunity, chances of people getting infected, especially in the coming winter months is more, ” said a source.
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Parliamentary panel members also asked the officials how, in the prevailing situation, public trust around Covid can be built. “To this one of the officials answered that people’s trust will be built once the Covid vaccine is developed,” said another source.
The officials also briefed the MPs about how India has ramped up its ventilator production since March, when Covid-19 cases started spiking.
“Officials informed the MPs that where earlier India used to import ventilators, now it is manufacturing them here and making them available at very low cost,” one of the sources quoted earlier said.
Thin attendance, MP’s press for virtual meeting
This is the first time after the pandemic broke out that the parliamentary panel met physically to discuss Covid-related issues.
But Friday’s meeting was thinly attended, with just six of the 30 members attending. A majority of the MPs stayed away citing the spike in cases in Delhi and the fact that they will have to undergo 14-day quarantine when they return to their respective states.
The sources said the MPs who attended Friday’s meeting again pressed for allowing virtual meetings of parliamentary panels. “Members were unanimous in wanting virtual meetings. It would have allowed more MPs to take part and know about the science and technology aspects of Covid-19 and beyond,” said a panel member, who attended the meeting.
DMK MP R.S. Bharathi told ThePrint that he could not attend the meeting because of the logistical challenges. “If I had come, on my return to Chennai I would have to go on a 14-day quarantine. This is not possible.”
Jairam Ramesh tweeted, “I would still request you Sir to allow virtual meetings given that Parliament is unlikely to meet for the next month at least. Our Parliamentary Standing Committee is having a most informative and useful meeting with @DBTIndia @IndiaDST @CSIR_IND & @PrinSciAdvGoI on the issue of Science & Technology & COVID-19. Too bad we are not allowed to have virtual meetings so that more MPs could have participated!”
I would still request you Sir to allow virtual meetings given that Parliament is unlikely to meet for the next month at least https://t.co/H79K90000u
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) July 10, 2020
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