Lok Sabha Question No. 1030 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-09-18
Subject: Measures to Control Corona
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Rajiv Ranjan (Lalan) Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH RESEARCH

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1030 TO BE ANSWERED ON 18 TH SEPTEMBER, 2020

## MEASURES TO CONTROL CORONA

## 1030. SHRI RAJIV RAN JAN SINGH ALIAS LALA N SINGH:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether government has been successful in development of vaccine to control the Corona virus, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the other measures being taken by Government to control the Corona pandemic till the time vaccine is not fully developed;
- (c) whether hospitals at district level are not upto the mark to take up the Corona cases; and
- (d) if so, the action taken by the Government to improve patient care facilities by providing atleast one Government hospital in each district all over the country?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

(SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

- (a) Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has informed that it has granted test  license  permission  for  manufacture  of COVID - 19  Vaccine  for  preclinical  test, examination and analysis to the following manufacturers in India:
1. M/s Serum Institute of India Pvt., Ltd., Pune
2. Ms. Cadila Healthcare Ltd., Ahmadabad
3. M/s Bharat Biotech International Ltd., Hyderabad
4. Biological E Ltd., Hyderabad
5. M/s Reliance Life Sciences Pvt Ltd., Mumbai
6. M/s Aurbindo Pharma Limited, Hyderabad
7. M/s Gennova Biopharmaceuticals Limited, Pune

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), an autonomous organisation under the Department  of  Health  Research,  has  informed  that  it  is  facilitating  the  following  s related to COVID - 19 vaccines:

(i)An  inactivated  whole  virion candidate  vaccine  (BBV152)  for  SARS - CoV - 2  has  been developed by Bharat Biotech International Ltd (BBIL) using the virus isolate (NIV - 2020- 770) provided  by  ICMR - National  Institute  of  Virology  (NIV),  Pune.  Characterization  of  th vaccine  candidate  has  been undertaken  at  ICMR - NIV  followed  by  safety  and  tolerability studies in small animals like rats, mice and rabbits. Status of clinical trials is as fo

- Phase I clinical trials alongwith parallel studies in hamsters and rhesus macaques been  complet ed.  The  trial  has  revealed  excellent  safety  of  the  candidate  vacci Immunogenicity testing is in progress.
- Phase II clinical trials are ongoing.

(ii) A DNA vaccine (ZyCov - D) has been developed by Cadila Healthcare Ltd. Pre - clincial toxicity studies were conducted in small animals: mice, rats, rabbits and guinea pigs. Th vaccine has been found to be safe and immunogenic. Cadila has partnered with ICMR for conduct  of  parallel  pre -clinical  studies  in  rhesus  macaques.  Status  of  clinical  trials  i follows :

- Phase I clinical trials have been completed. The trial has revealed excellent saf the candidate vaccine. Immunogenicity testing is in progress.
- Phase II clinical trials are ongoing.

(iii) Serum Institute of India (SII) and ICMR have partnered for clinical development of two global vaccine candidates:

- ChAdOx1 - S, which is a non -replicating viral vector vaccine developed by University of Oxford/AstraZeneca. This vaccine is undergoing phase III clinical trials in Br Phase  II/III  bridging  studies have  been  initiated  by  ICMR  at  14  clinical  trial  sites. ICMR - National  Institute  for  Research  in  Tuberculosis  (NIRT),  Chennai  is  the  lea institution.
- ICMR and SII have also partnered for clinical development of a glycoprotein subuni nanoparticle adjuvante d vaccine developed by Novavax from USA. The trial will be initiated in second half of October after the vaccine is manufactured by SII. The t led by ICMR - National AIDS Research Institute (NARI), Pune.

As per details provided by Department of Biotechnology (DBT)/Department of Science and  Technology  (DST),  more  than  30  vaccine  candidates  have  been  supported  which  are  i different stages of development.

(b) to (d) Government of India has taken a series of actions to prevent, control and m gate the  impact  of  COVID -19 . India  followed  a  whole  of  Government  and  whole  of  society approach.  Hon'ble  Prime  Minister,  a  High  level  Group  of  Ministers  (GoM),  Cabinet Secretary, Committee of Secretaries and senior officers in MoHFW continue to monitor pub lic health response to COVID - 19 in the country.

The public health actions were taken in a pre - emptive, pro - active, graded manner based on  the  evolving  scenario.  A  number  of  travel  advisories  were  issued  restricting  infl international  travellers,  till such  time,  commercial  flights  were  suspended  on  23 rd March, 2020. Till then, a total of 14,154 flights with 15,24,266 passengers have been scree these  airports.  Screening  was  also  done  at  12  major  and  65  minor  ports  and  land  bo crossings.  In  the initial  part  of  the  pandemic,  India  evacuated  a  large  number  of  strand passengers  from  then  COVID  affected  countries  (China,  Italy,  Iran,  Japan,  Malaysia) again in the un - lockdown phase, a total of 13,18,891 passengers have been brought back (as on 14 th September, 2020) and followed up.

Integrated  Disease  Surveillance  Programme (IDSP)  is  conducting  contact  tracing through community surveillance. In the earlier part of the pandemic, this was done for related  cases  and  subsequently  for  cases  being  reported  from  community  as  a  part containment strategy. As on 14 th September 2020, a total of about 40 lakh persons have been kept under surveillance. According to ICMR a total of 1717 COVID 19 testing laboratori are  registered  on  its  portal  comprising  1049  Government  labs  and  668  Private  labs. addition, ICMR has 5134 Antig en testing sites entered in their database as on 17.09.2020 ICMR  has  informed  that  till  13.09.2020,  a  total  5,72,39,428  COVID  19  tests  have  be performed by the testing laboratories, of which 48,46,427 have been reported as COVID infected.

Guidelines on  Clinical  management  of  COVID - 19  have  been  issued  and  are  being updated regularly.

States  are  being  supported  in  terms  of  supply  of  logistics.  So  far  3.44  crores - 95 masks, 10.84 crore tablets of Hydroxychloroquine and 30,663 ventilators and 1,02,400 oxygen cylinders have been supplied to States/UTs/ Central Government hospitals so far (as on th September, 2020).

Various cadres of personnel and volunteers across sectors and departments for COVI related  works  and  maintenance  of  other  essential  medica l  services  have  been  worked  out, trained through resources made available on the website of MoHFW, iGOT (online platform by DOPT (https://igot.gov.in/igot/).

MoHFW website is being updated daily to provide general public with information on current statu s of COVID- 19 spread in India. Communication material is also being hosted on MoHFW website and through social media. A dedicated call centre / helpline (1075) has be started to guide community at large which are being used by the citizens very effective ly and on a regular basis.

For  appropriate  management  of  COVID - 19  cases,  a  three  tier  arrangement  of  health facilities [(i) COVID Care Center with isolation beds for mild or pre - symptomatic cases; (ii) Dedicated COVID Health Centre (DCHC) with oxygen suppo rted isolation beds for moderate cases and (iii) Dedicated COVID Hospital (DCH) with ICU beds for severe cases] has bee implemented.

Tertiary  care  hospitals  under  ESIC,  Defence,  Railways,  paramilitary  forces,  St Ministry etc. have been leveraged for c ase management. In addition, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has set up large field hospitals with capacities rang from 1000 to 10,000 isolation beds.

Clinical  management  protocol  for  managing  COVID  cases  has  been  developed  and widely circulated to improve patient outcomes.