He's working on the vaccine

Dr Satish Ravetkar, senior director, Serum Institute of India, the largest manufacturer of vaccines in India and the institute chosen by the WHO to develop a vaccine against swine flu speaks to Rita Ghose about the swine flu virus and the vaccine

Dr Satish Ravetkar, senior director, Serum Institute of India, the largest manufacturer of vaccines in India and the institute chosen by the WHO to develop a vaccine against swine flu speaks to Rita Ghose about the swine flu virus and the vaccine.

What is the process of developing the vaccine?
We have received a strain of the virus to develop the vaccine. This has to go through a series of testing before it is released. It will be first tested on animals and then humans. After which we will seek approval from the Drug Control Government of India (DCGI).

How long will it take?
We have a team of 30 plus scientists working on the trials. We should be done with the trials by the end of this year.

What is the nature of this virus?
It's tricky. Its target seems to be people mostly between the age group of 12 to 35. The influenza virus is always peculiar in picking its targets.u00a0

What is your advice to Mumbaikars?
Stay away from crowded places but if you can't, please wear a mask.

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