Human trials of India's first coronavirus vaccine 'Covaxin' to begin today at AIIMS, Delhi
All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) in Delhi is scheduled to begin the human trials of India's first coronavirus vaccine — Covaxin.
AIIMS-Delhi is among the 12 sites selected by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) where the human trials of Covaxin will be conducted.
In phase I of the trials, the vaccine candidate would be tested on around 375 volunteers. The volunteers need to be healthy with no comorbid conditions and without a history of COVID-19. The volunteer should be of age between 18 years to 55 years.
As per the report, the AIIMS will begin the screening of individuals and evaluate their health condition from Monday (today) onwards before giving them the vaccine.
The vaccine candidate Covaxin is developed by the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the ICMR and the National Institute of Virology (NIV). It had recently got a green signal for human clinical trials from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).
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Recently, the ICMR Director-General Dr. Balram Bhargava in a letter to principal investigators of the 12 sites asked them to fast-track the human clinical trial approvals stating it is one of the "top priority projects which is being monitored at the top-most level of the government".
-PTC News
