Coronavirus / PM Modi chairs meet to discuss progress in India's vaccine programme

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday chaired a meeting of the task force on Coronavirus vaccine development. PM Modi also took a detailed review of the current status of India’s steady efforts in vaccine development, drug discovery, diagnosis and testing.

According to a statement released by the prime minister’s office, Indian vaccine companies have come across as innovators in early stage vaccine development research. The PMO has also noted contributions of Indian academia and start-ups pioneering the domain. Over 30 Indian vaccines are in different stages of vaccine development,with few going on to trial stages.

It was also observed that with linkage of laboratories all over the country, capacity for both — RT-PCR approach and for the antibody detection — have been enormously scaled up.

“The problem of importing reagents for testing has been addressed by consortia of Indian start-ups and industry, meeting current requirements. The current thrust also holds promise for the development of a robust long-term industry in this area,” the statement read.

The prime minister has noted that the innovative and original manner in which Indian scientists, from basic to applied sciences, have come together, with industry is heartening. “This kind of pride, originality and sense of purpose should dominate our approach going ahead. It is only then that we can be amongst the best in the world and not followers, in science,” it said.