CVR - Coronavirus Vaccines R&D Roadmap

Milestone
1.1.a

Biosafety levels

Completed

Initiate the risk assessment and decision-making processes necessary to determine if some SARS-CoV-2 viruses can be safely reclassified from BSL-3 to BSL-2 and under what conditions.

Progress Highlights

WHO published Laboratory Biosafety Guidance Related to SARS-CoV-2 on March 11, 2024, indicating that initial processing of clinical specimens and non-propagative diagnostic laboratory work can be handled in BSL-2 facilities, and that propagative work should be conducted in either a BSL-2 facility or higher depending on whether the viral variant has been classified as a Variant of Concern with an unknown biological profile