Reiterating his appeal to exercise utmost caution to stop the spread of Covid-19, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said until an effective medicine for the novel coronavirus is developed, there should be no lowering of the guard. ‘Jab tak dawai nahi, tab tak dhilai nahi’ (No carelessness till a medicine is found), the prime minister said as he was addressing the virtual house warming ceremony of 1.75 lakh houses built in the rural parts of Madhya Pradesh under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.
At least seven Indian pharma companies, including Bharat Biotech, Serum Institute, Zydus Cadila, Panacea Biotec, Indian Immunologicals, Mynvax and Biological E, are working to develop a vaccine against coronavirus.
Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin developed in association with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is being tested at 12 institutes across India. Animal trials of Covaxin have been successful and the results showed “remarkable immunogenicity and protective efficacy” in the first phase of the clinical trials.
Serum Institute of India has paused clinical trials of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in India as AstraZeneca halted trials after a volunteer developed neurological symptoms.
On Saturday, India recorded a single-day jump of 97,570 fresh cases. A total of 1,201 deaths have been reported from across the country in the last 24 hours.