In a statement the ICMR said the sent by DG-ICMR to investigators of the clinical trial sites was “meant to cut unnecessary red tape, without bypassing any necessary process, and speed up recruitment of participants”.
New Delhi, July 4:
A day after experts raised concerns over the Indian Council of Medical Research’s (ICMR) decision to fast-track vaccine development for Covid-19 and set a deadline for August 15, the ICMR has issued a clarification stating that it has decided to fasttrack the process to cut red-tapeism.
In a statement the ICMR said the letter sent by DG-ICMR to investigators of the clinical trial sites was “meant to cut unnecessary red tape, without bypassing any necessary process, and speed up recruitment of participants”.
“Just as red tape was not allowed to become a hindrance in the fast-track approval of new indigenous testing kits or for introducing in the Indian market potential Covid-19 related drugs, the indigenous vaccine development process has also been sought to be insulated from slow file movement,” the ICMR said in its statement.
It said the aim behind this is to complete these phases at the earliest, so that population-based trials for efficacy could be initiated without delay.
