‘Yes’ to a new normal

In a ‘public attitude study’ on ‘Science and Technology in the New Normal in India’, conducted recently by the IIT-Madras Alumni Association, 82 per cent of the respondents believed that they were very to fairly confident that the country will be in a new normal in the next five years. Respondents in the age group 41-60 were the most confident of them all.

However, a more interesting insight is about digitisation. While 92 per cent and 69 per cent of the respondents believed that the remote working model is here to stay in work and education, respectively, a sub-group of respondents in the age group 21-40 seemed to think differently. “Perhaps it is a reflection of how they desire their future should be — a future involving more in-person interactions,” the study observes.

Volunteers to the fore

The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) has prepared a list of 11 GLCP-compliant (good clinical laboratory practices) clinical trial sites for facilitating quick Phase III clinical trials of global and local vaccine candidates. Each site has a cohort of between 50,000 and one lakh 100,000 healthy volunteers, who can be tracked for prolonged periods of time. Thirty-four hospital sites are also involved in facilitating vaccine trails.

Pertinent to note that apart from the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech, whose Covid-19 vaccines are in the market, there are seven other vaccine platforms under development. Four of these are in Phase II or III clinical trial stage, while the rest are in the ‘advanced pre-clinical’ stage. Additionally, ten vaccine candidates are in early stages of development, according to DBT.