Various govt departments to work with ICMR to develop coronavirus vaccine

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Department of Science and Technology, and Department of Biotechnology will work with Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to further the agenda of the development of a vaccine for coronavirus, said R Gangakhedkar, head, Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases Division of ICMR.

"CSIR, Department of Science and Technology, and Department of Biotechnology will work with the ICMR to further the agenda of the development of a vaccine for COVID-19," Gangakhedkar said at a press conference here on Tuesday.

Speaking on whether the country has the capacity to conduct tests for an increasing number of suspected coronavirus patients, he said, "Till now we have tested 42,788 samples, including 4,346 samples that were tested on March 30. It represents 36 per cent of our capacity.

"123 labs have been made functional, 49 private labs have been given permission. Yesterday 399 patients were tested in private labs," he added.

Meanwhile, Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, said that till now a total of 1,251 cases and 32 deaths have been reported in the country.