Part one of Covaxin's phase-1 vaccine trial is complete and the results are 'encouraging'

In steady progress in the human trials for India's COVID-19 vaccine COVAXIN, 50 participants across India have been administered so far, and the results were 'encouraging'.

Dr Savita Verma, Principal Investigator of vaccine trial team at PGI Rohtak, Haryana said that part 1 of phase-1 human trial for Covaxin was completed as 50 patients were administered the vaccine and the results were encouraging. On Sunday, trials were conducted on six more people under part 2 of phase-1 human trials, the results of which are awaited.

READ | COVID-19: AIIMS-Delhi Begins Recruiting Volunteers For Covaxin Human Trials

The human trials for Covaxin commenced in Haryana on July 17 as Health Minister Anil Vij announced that three participants were administered the vaccine at  Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGI) Rohtak. ICMR has informed that approximately 1000 human volunteers are under clinical study in various test sites for the two vaccine contenders - COVAXIN (ICMR-NIC with Bharat Biotech) and  ZyCov-D (Zydus Cadilla).

READ | 375 Healthy Volunteers; 150-day Monitoring: AIIMS Gets Nod For Covaxin Covid Vaccine Trial

Human trials of COVID vaccine begin in India

The trials phase-1 & 2 have kicked-off combinedly in ICMR shortlisted locations - New Delhi, Patna, Chennai, Kanpur, Gorakhpur, Goa, Bhubaneswar, Rohtak, Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam among others. Volunteers across the country are undergoing assessment for all health parameters such as liver functions and infections and to check if they have COVID-19 infections as trials cannot be done on COVID infected people or even asymptomatic patients. After the assessment, the subjects would be cleared for small doses of one of the two vaccines and the results will be studied.

READ | Bharat Biotech Begins First Phase Of Clinical Trials For India's Covid Vaccine 'Covaxin'

ICMR fast-tracks Covaxin trials

Earlier this month, ICMR fast-tracked Bharat Biotech India Ltd (BBIL)'s COVID-19 vaccine - Covaxin & Zydus Cadilla's ZyCov-D's clinical trials. Covaxin and  ZyCov-D were approved by the DCGI recently to proceed to clinical trials after they showed promise in its pre-clinical data.

READ | ICMR Bolsters 'mid-August' Covid Vaccine Effort; Adds 12 Institutes For Covaxin Trial