ICMR dials down on Aug 15 vaccine date: ‘Letter to cut red tape`
(WorldNews India)

A day after some of the country’s top scientists and medical experts described as “unreasonable” and “absurd” an ICMR timeline to produce a Covid vaccine “for public health use latest by August 15”, the Council has claimed that its letter to clinical trial sites, which mentioned the date, “was meant to cut unnecessary red tape”. In a statement issued Saturday, ICMR said: “The aim is to complete these phases at the earliest, so that population-based trials for efficacy could be initiated without delay.” The Council, however, remained silent on the unrealistic timeline and the language used in the letter dated July 2, and sent by ICMR director general Balram Bhargava to the 12 hospitals...