First Dose Of India’s Covid Vaccine As Human Trial Begins

A total of 12 volunteers were called for a number of pre-tests that include blood and nasopharyngeal testing for COVID-19.

New Delhi: A 30-year-old man was on Friday given the first dose of undertrial coronavirus vaccine Covaxin at Delhi’s All India Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

A total of 12 volunteers were called for a number of pre-tests that include blood and nasopharyngeal testing for COVID-19.

After results, 10 healthy individuals were selected for the vaccine to be given in phases.

After the first dose, a report on their health condition will be submitted to the ethics committee, which will reviewing the entire process.

100 healthy people will be vaccinated at AIIMS during these trial.

Covaxin, developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the ICMR and the National Institute of Virology (NIV), had recently got the approval for human clinical trials from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).

AIIMS-Delhi is among the 12 institutes selected by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) for conducting the first two phases of the randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials of Covaxin.

Phase I of the vaccine trial will be done on healthy people aged between 18 and 55, having no co-morbid conditions. Women with no pregnancy will also be selected to be a part of the trial in the first phase, news agency PTI had reported.

In the second phase, 750 people will be recruited between the ages of 12 and 65, PTI quote AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria as saying.

Already, around 1,800 volunteers have registered themselves for the trial at AIIMS, he had said.

“In the first phase we see the safety of the vaccine which is of primary importance and the dose range is also calculated,” he said.