COVAXIN trials to begin this week at AIIMS, Patna

Guwahati: The All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna, will begin the clinical trials of COVAXIN, which is India's first vaccine against the novel coronavirus. AIIMS, Patna, is one of the 12 medical institutes chosen by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) for conducting human trials of the indigenous COVID-19 vaccine (BBV152 COVID vaccine).

Bharat Biotech developed the inactivated vaccines in collaboration with ICMR - NIV and received DCGI's approval for phase 1 and 2 human trials last week. The vaccine, which is derived from a strain of SARS-CoV-2, has been isolated by ICMR-NIV, Pune, and has demonstrated safety and immune response in preclinical studies.

AIIMS-Patna Superintendant Dr. CM Singh said that the clinical trials of the country's first indigenous COVID-19 vaccine would begin in the next two days, adding that after the completion of certain formalities related to logistics and other procedures, the prestigious institute is expected to kick-start the trial on Friday (July 10).

Dr. Singh, speaking to media, said, "Its pre-clinical trials on animals have been successful. The results were also encouraging. It was seen in the trials that animals developed immunity effectively. We would follow the protocols for clinical trials suggested by ICMR."

Further, he added that the clinical vaccine trials will at first carried out on 100 people registered for the same. They will increase the number in the second phase, depending on the outcome of the study. The length of the clinical trials is expected to be 6-8 months. According to Dr. Singh, the vaccine would be tested only on healthy people aged between 22-50 years, irrespective of gender.

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