The National Institute of Virology (NIV) Pune needs no introduction. The institute has played an important role in the development of corona, treatment and vaccines. The manufacture of indigenous vaccine ‘Covaccine’ has been possible only through the research of NIV.
The Bureau Chief of ‘Hindustan’ Madan Jada had a special conversation with the director of the institute, Dr. Priya Abraham, regarding the normalizing situation of Corona in the country and the situation ahead. Here are excerpts from it…
Maharashtra and Delhi have abolished the mandatory wearing of masks, is it ok to do so?
The cases of corona infection have decreased and are at the lowest level. But my personal opinion as a virologist is that we should not lower our safeguards. It is not fair for us if we stop wearing masks today. This will not save us. There are still more cases of infection in many countries including China, Singapore. The virus is still present in the country as well. Cases are coming in hundreds every day. The way there is movement in our country, it does not take long for the infection to spread from one corner to another. Now is the time to be careful. Can’t say when the corona virus will change. That’s why we should continue wearing the mask for now.
NIV is the largest virus research laboratory in the country, how many viruses, bacteria and their variants are kept in the warehouse of your laboratory?
There are in the thousands. The number can be gauged from the fact that we have more than 350 strains of corona alone. There are also many such viruses and their strains which are no longer present in the world. Are they only in our lab or in other labs.
How safe is it to keep a virus or bacteria in the lab, can it leak?
They are kept in Bio Safety Level-4 Lab. These are 100% safe. There is no chance of them leaking.
Most of the people in the country have been vaccinated. Do you think that now a booster dose is necessary for everyone?
The work of applying the booster dose has started in a phased manner. Just as the primary vaccination has been done in the past, in the same way, government guidelines will also come regarding the precautionary dose. In the coming days, everyone will get a booster dose.
Should children under 12 be vaccinated?
Children’s immune system can easily cope with corona infection. Most of the children in the country have already been infected and have no symptoms or are very mild. But children who are suffering from any disease must be vaccinated.
Are there plans to upgrade the vaccine now?
We have recently isolated five more strains of corona and handed them over to Bharat Biotech. This is under the agreement between us and them. Now it is up to them to decide whether they will make a new vaccine or not.
The government had announced to open new laboratories of NIV, what is the progress in this direction?
Four more NIV laboratories will be opened in the country. The budget for this has been approved. The plan is being finalized. These laboratories will be opened in Chandigarh, Dibrugarh, Jabalpur and Bangalore. Thus in future there will be five NIVs which will be in different geographical areas of the country so that they can easily cover the entire country in case of emergency.
There was also talk of opening One Health Institute, when will it start?
An announcement was made to set up One Health Institute for research on human-to-animal diseases. This institute is being established in Nagpur. The budget has been approved and the process for the establishment of the institute has been started.