Bharat Biotech starts human trial of Covid vaccine

Indian biotechnology company Bharat Biotech has started human trial of anti-COVID-19 vaccine.

Three volunteers were administered “Covaxin”, the corona vaccine Bharat Biotech, at Post-Graduate Institute (PGI) of Medical Sciences at Rohtak in Haryana of India on Friday, as part of the first phase of clinical trial on the humans. 

All three tolerated it well without any initial adverse effects, reports The Hindu.

Senior Professor and Head, department of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine, Dhruva Chaudhry, also the co-principal investigator, told The Hindu over phone that the three volunteers were short-listed out of the total eight after health checks to ensure proper liver function and absence of infection and were administered the vaccine.

“All three tolerated it well. There were no complaints. We observed them for two hours before releasing them. The immediate component of allergic reaction has been taken care of. We will now look for any soreness at the local site over the next 24-48 hours,” said Dr. Dhruv, taking care of clinical aspect of the process at the institute. Dr. Savita Verma, the principal investigator, takes care of logistics and control, and Dr. Rakesh Verma is responsible for the vaccination aspects of the process.

Dr. Chaudary said the vaccine had been tested successfully on the animals for safety and response and the process had not entered the first phase of clinical trial on the humans. He said the process might take six months and the final assessment on the safety and the anti-bodies produced would be made by the safety board.

Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij also tweeted about the trial: “Human trial with Corona vaccine (COVAXIN) of Bharat Biotech started at PGI Rohtak today. Three subjects were enrolled today. All have tolerated the vaccine very well. There were no adverse efforts (sic).”