oppn parties Shortcuts Will Not Work In Developing A Vaccine For Coronavirus

News Snippets

  • Calcutta HC says Cricket Association of Bengal is not liable to pay tax on advertisement inisde Eden Gardens cricket ground as it is not a 'public place' because it does not have unrestricted access for the general public
  • Supreme Court admits a plea from a child of a single OBC mother who had applied for an OBC certificate for her son
  • Supreme Court approves applying strict preventive detention laws for 'cybercriminals'
  • SBI likely to shift part of operations of its Global Market Unit from Kolkata to Mumbai
  • FM nirmala Sitharaman calls for a "structured, process-driven approach to compliance" and asks top I-T officials to speed up refunds and simplify processes
  • Marine insurance costs surge as the oil corridor in Strait of Homruz becomes risky due to war
  • Stocks weaken on Monday on global cues: sensex sheds 511 points to 81896 and Nifty 140 points to 24971
  • Former left-arm spinner Dilip Doshi dies in London at 77. He played for India in 33 Test matches and for Bengal in domestic tournaments
  • Pant becomes the only keeper to score two centuries in the same Test in England
  • England Test: Rishabh Pant hits his second ton and KL Rahul a classy century to put India on top, England need 350 runs on the last day, with the ptich showing signs of wear and tear
  • DGCA orders an audit of the entire aviation ecosystem in the wake of recent snags in many flights after the AI Dreamliner crash in Ahmedabad
  • 2 Pahalgam residents arrested by NIA for sheltering and aiding 3 terrorists who killed civilian tourists in pahalgam tell the agency that there were 3 LeT ultras from Pakistan that carried out the attack
  • India unlikely to agree to US demands for lower tariffs on agri products and GM food, trade deal faces fresh hurdles
  • Stocks likely to plummet today as traders will be worried about the effect of US strike on iran, oil price rise and possible inflation. Foreign funds may also withdraw in the volatile global situation
  • Oil prices likely to shoot up as US strikes at iran and the latter decides to close the Strait of Homruz
Rishabh Pant hits second century of the match, becomes only wicketkeeper to hit two tons in the same Test in England ////// England need 350 runs to win in 90 overs on the final day
oppn parties
Shortcuts Will Not Work In Developing A Vaccine For Coronavirus

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2020-07-06 18:09:56

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.

Vaccines are used to prevent infections. Hence, their effectiveness has to be scientifically proven as per admissible norms before they are launched in the market for the use of the general public. However strong and urgent be the health scare for which the vaccine is being developed, the due process cannot be bypassed to launch a product that has not been stringently tested and approved for its efficacy in preventing the infection.

Hence, the ICMR directive to Bharat Biotech to "speed-up" clinical trials of the vaccine, that they are jointly developing as a "top priority project", so that it can be launched within August 15 must be condemned. Clinical trials cannot be sped up. There are thousands of things involved and continuous feedbacks and monitoring of patients administered with the vaccine during such trials take time. In any case, no vaccine or drug can be safely launched before successful clinical trials on a given set of individuals (a small number in Phase 1 and then a much larger number in Phase 2) over a given period of time. The results, such as the development of antibodies in the recipients, are closely monitored by scientists. It is not a process that submits itself to pre-set deadlines. Even the identification, selection and getting volunteers are time consuming processes.

The bureaucracy in India must not try to undermine scientific norms just to please their political masters. In fact, since they are supposed to be subject-experts (as Dr. Balram Bhargava, director-general of ICMR is), they must make the political leadership aware of the pitfalls involved in rushing things. There is no doubt that a vaccine, when developed, would be a huge relief to the entire humanity. But if due process is not followed and a dud vaccine is launched, India will become the laughing stock of the world. Hence, instead of setting deadlines, ICMR should insist on getting things done in the most scientific way following all global norms. Shortcuts will be self-defeating.