COVID-19 Outbreak: PM Modi Chairs Meeting To Review India's Progress In Vaccine Development

During the discussion with the team created to meet the challenge posed by the deadly coronavirus, Prime Minister took a detailed review of the current status of India’s steady efforts in vaccine development, drug discovery, diagnosis and testing.

PM Narendra Modi chairs a meeting of the task force on Coronavirus vaccine development, in New Delhi. (Image: PTI)

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday held a meeting with special task force to discuss on Coronavirus vaccine development. During the discussion with the team created to meet the challenge posed by the deadly coronavirus, Prime Minister took a detailed review of the current status of India’s steady efforts in vaccine development, drug discovery, diagnosis and testing. A statement released by Prime Minister Office post meeting said that Indian vaccine companies have come across as innovators in early stage vaccine development research. The official statement further stated that Indian academia and start-ups have also pioneered in this area. Over 30 Indian vaccines are in different stages of vaccine development, with few going on to trial stages.

Chaired a meeting on the Task Force on Corona Vaccine Development, Drug Discovery, Diagnosis and Testing. https://t.co/CPTSFBMeBM

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 5, 2020

According to the reports, PM desired that such coordination and speed should be embedded into a standard operating procedure. He emphasized that what is possible in a crisis should be a part of our routine way of scientific functioning. Earlier, the World Health Organization (WHO) had said that countries like India are among the world's largest vaccine manufacturers. Countries from the South-East Asia region must play a lead role in overcoming the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Going by the latest updates, India on Tuesday recorded the biggest single-day spike with 3,900 cases and 195 deaths. The total number of coronavirus cases in India has reached 46,711 with as many as 1,583 people deaths so far. Meanwhile, 13,160 people have recovered and been discharged from hospitals. The recovery rate stands 27.41 per cent now, and the doubling rate has improved to 12 days.