Shahid Jameel, eminent virologist and head of the advisory group to the Indian SARS-COV-2 Genomics Consortia (Insacog), resigned from his post on Friday.
Dr. Jameel confirmed to The Hindu that he'd quit but did not give any reasons for his departure.
Multiple scientists who are part of Insacog — a group of 10 laboratories across the country, tasked with tracking evolving variants of the coronavirus — told
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Dr. Jameel, who is Director, Trivedi School of Biosciences at Ashoka University has been critical of aspects of the government's handling of the pandemic.
Interview | A vaccine is a vaccine... regulators never approve a backup, says virologist Shahid Jameel
On May 13, in an invited opinion piece for the
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Also read: Variants with two specific mutations may evade antibodies, says virologist Shahid Jameel
The Insacog, setup in December, faced initial challenges with funds and equipment but since March has considerably accelerated sequencing samples from all over the country for variants. It has been tracking international variants of concern as well as discovered the so called 'Indian variant ' (B.1.617) that is believed to be instrumental in India’s devastating second wave.