COVID-19 vaccine

NEW DELHI: First dose of COVID-19 vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech’s COVAXIN was given to a 30-year-old male on Friday after All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi received the approval from the committee to begin human trials.

The 30-year-old has been kept under supervision for two weeks after which he will be given the second dose.

The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) for conducting the Phase I and Phase II vaccine trials chose twelve volunteers for the testing.

Dr Sanjay Rai, Principal Investigator of COVID-19 vaccine trial at AIIMS in conversation with The Indian Express informed, A first dose of 0.5 ml of the intramuscular vaccine was administered to him on Friday. He was kept under observation for two hours. A diary has been handed over to him for continuous monitoring of the conditions. We will also coordinate with him daily for at least a week to understand if he is facing any kind of medical issues.

The 12 volunteers had to go through pre-tests, which included blood and nasopharyngeal testing for COVID-19. Following the results, 10 individuals passed the process and were selected for the trials, regulated in phases.

Developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, COVAXIN in collaboration with ICMR and the National Institute of Virology (NIV) recently approved the human clinical trails from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).

AIIMS, Delhi is selected amongst 12 other institutes by ICMR for initiating the first two primary phases of the randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials of COVAXIN.

During Phase I, the vaccines said to be tested on 375 volunteers and the highest count of volunteers would belong to AIIMS. Phase II trails will include close to 750 volunteers from all 12 selected institutes.

Until now, the medical institute has received more than 3500 applications from people to participate in the human trials.

We have shortlisted 20 volunteers who have undergone several tests to participate in the trial. The results are awaited, added Dr Rai.