Preparations are underway at a hospital here for the commencement of the second phase ofhuman clinical trial of 'Covaxin', India's indigenous COVID-19vaccine, officials said. "The Phase I of the trial is still continuing as weare planning for the start of the Phase II trial shortly," DrE Venkata Rao, Principal Investigator of the trial atInstitute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital, faculty ofmedical sciences, said.
The blood samples collected from the volunteerswho received the vaccine were to ascertain how effective thevaccine was in terms of the level of antibodies developed, DrRao said, adding that there had been 'no side effects' in thefirst phase trial of the vaccine. The IMS and SUM Hospital is one of the 12 medicalcentres in the country chosen by the Indian Council forMedical Research (ICMR) for conducting the human trial of thevaccine developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech.
"Two doses of the vaccine were administered toeach volunteer after they were selected through a screeningprocess conducted over a period of three to seven days priorto vaccination. The first dose was administered on Day Zerowhile the blood sample was collected. The second dose wasgiven on Day 14 and the blood sample was also collected," DrRao said. Blood samples of the volunteers will also becollected on different days (28, 42, 104, 194 day) forestimating the duration of protection subsequently, he added.
Dr Rao said there was a lot of enthusiasm amongpeople to be part of the second phase of the human trial. Those who wish to be part of this trial could contactthe centre at http://ptctu.soa.ac.in, he said.
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