The IIT Alumni Council is launching mobile vaccination labs to conduct concurrent clinical trials, vaccine upgrades, vaccination, pre- and post-vaccination feedback. The labs will be launched first in Mumbai and then rolled out to other cities, starting with New Delhi.
The mobile vaccination labs would be launched through its MegaLab – an initiative by the council to prevent all infectious diseases including Covid-19, and in partnership with Krsnaa Diagnostics, IIT Alumni Council said in a statement.
Ravi Sharma, President of the IIT Alumni Council said: “IIT Alumni Council has decided to help re-invent the clinical trial and vaccination process. This will help reduce timelines inherent in the sequential process of virus characterisation, vaccine development, clinical trials, mass vaccination and post vaccination feedback. Digital wearables and a secure community portal will create instantaneous feedback and facilitate real time research”.
The IIT Alumni Council is also in the process of developing a preventive vaccine for Covid-19, for which it has sanctioned an immediate ₹300 crore and expects to get an another ₹1,800 crore from its MegaFund initiative.
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“The vaccine will be first made available to IIT Alumni and their families initially. Once the process is perfected, it will be made available globally,” he added.
On May 1, 2020, the Maharashtra Chief Minister had flagged off India’s first covid-19 testing bus. This IIT Alumni Council initiative was supported by Krsnaa Diagnostics, a diagnostics company.
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“At almost warp speed the IIT Alumni Council has assembled a formidable force across the continents and disciplines for Covid-19 prevention. Their Covid initiative has won both my admiration and allegiance. One that particularly appeals to me is their take on developing an entire prophylactic stack that is upgradeable and not just a single onetime remedy. Prophylactics, therapeutics and tonics are all essential to prevent, heal and regenerate from this affliction. Here is a remarkable convergence of neoteric technologies and data science complementing modern and traditional systems of health and medicine!,” Christina Watson, Founder of Wellness Lifestyle and Board Member of Digital India, a MegaFund partner fund.
The IIT Alumni Council is the largest global body of alumni, students and faculty, spread across all the 23 IITs and partnering Technical Institutes of Excellence (TieNet).