ICMR's research led India to have its own indigenous vaccine: Mandaviya

New Delhi, April 1

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has guided the nation from time to time and helped in vaccine-related research leading to India having its own indigenous vaccine, Union Health Ministry Mansukh Mandaviya said in Lok Sabha on Friday.

Mandaviya was replying to a question of Congress MP from West Bengal Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury who asked about the predictions made by an ICMR-run medical journal about the pandemic and whether ICMR misguided the Prime Minister.

"The Covid supermodel published in October 2020 in the ICMR-run Indian Journal of Medical Research, predicted that the epidemic in India had passed its peak in September 2020 and that the country would be able to control the virus's spread by the end of February 2021, by following the safety protocols already in place," Chowdhury asked.

He asked further that the top government officials, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, portrayed a rosy projection of the supermodel. "Modi ji said in February 2021 that India's fight against Covid had inspired the rest of the world but barely two months later, India reported record-high levels of Covid cases amid a devasting second wave which left lakhs dead and many more severely ill," the Congress MP further asked.

"As for the directions given or not given by the Prime Minister, I would like to inform everyone that it is because of the PM's timely and correct directions that India has been able to do the best Covid management and vaccination," said Mandaviya to the house.

In his reply, Health Minister said that because of the research Institute ICMR, India passed the Omicron-led third Covid easily. "The number of deaths in third covid wave in the world was more or less similar to the second wave. But, India passed third Covid wave easily because majority of population was vaccinated and the vaccine was indigenously-made", said Mandaviya. He said that the institute will continue to research not only Covid management but other type of medical research also.

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