Bengaluru: As the coronavirus pandemic has brought the world to an abrupt halt, Indian Prime Minister chaired a meeting in relation to the vaccine being developed for the same. 

It was a meeting of the task force on ‘Corona Vaccine Development, Drug Discovery, Diagnosis, and Testing’.

Times of India reported that over 30 Indian vaccines against coronavirus are in different stages of development with a few going on to the trial stages. This development was informed to the prime minister Narendra by scientists. 

It added that besides this, four existing drugs are being repurposed for the treatment of Covid-19 patients.  

“The PM took a detailed review of the current status of India’s efforts in vaccine development, drug discovery, diagnosis, and testing,” said an official statement.

PM Modi was informed that plant extracts and products were also being examined for general anti-viral properties.

Further, the development of new candidate drugs and molecules is also underway by linking the high-performance computational approaches with laboratory verification.

Taking note of the extraordinary coming together of academia, industry and government, combined with the speedy but efficient regulatory process, PM Modi said that such coordination and speed should be embedded into a standard operating procedure.

He emphasized that what is possible in a crisis should be a part of our routine way of scientific functioning, said the statement.

India has seen deaths in excess of 1500 while the number of positive cases nears 50 thousand. 

As regards the lockdown, India has extended it for the second successive time till May 17. However, several relaxations have been issued. Agricultural activities have been permitted as also industrial activities.