Phase 3 clinical trials of Indian coronavirus vaccine manufacturer Bharat Biotech are conducted in partnership with the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) lead medical body.
Trials of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate, Covaxin, involving 26,000 participants at 22 sites across the country, began on November 16. It is the largest clinical trial conducted for a coronavirus vaccine in India.
Phase 3 trials of Covaxin have started in several states across the country, including Delhi, Karnataka and Bengal, with many other states expected to begin soon.
States that have started phase 3 trials of India’s first Covid-19 vaccine:
1) Haryana – Haryana became the first state to start Covaxin phase 3 testing on November 20, with the state’s Interior Minister Anil Vij being the first volunteer to receive a test injection. Vij was administered the test dose at Ambala Cantt Civil Hospital.
2) Delhi– The phase 3 human clinical trial of Covaxin began at the AIIMS in the national capital on November 26. The trial began when Dr. MV Padma Srivastava, head of the Neuroscience Center at the main institute, and three other volunteers received the first dose. The test doses were reportedly administered to around 15,000 volunteers at AIIMS Delhi.
3) west bengal: Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar today inaugurated the launch of the Covaxin phase 3 regulatory trial at the National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (ICMR-NICED) ICMR in Kolkata, praising India’s leadership for “effectively addressing” the pandemic of the new coronavirus. Bengal Minister Firhad Hakim became the first volunteer to take the Covid-19 ‘Covaxin’ vaccine.
4) Gujarat: Covaxin phase 3 testing began in Gujarat on November 26 at the Sola Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, the only site in the state where the exercise will take place. The Sola civil hospital is one of 130 centers in the country where the third phase of clinical trials of Covaxin would be carried out.
5) Odisha The third phase of the human trial of Covaxin, the highly anticipated indigenously developed Covid-19 vaccine, began at a state institute on November 20. The vaccine was administered to two recruits from the Preventive and Therapeutic Clinical Trials Unit (PTCTU) of the Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital, the only institute in Odishas chosen by the ICMR for the human trial of the vaccine.
6) Madhya pradesh – The People’s University of Bhopal is the site for the phase 3 trials of Covaxin in Madhya Pradesh. The trial vaccination had started on November 27.
In addition to Covaxin from the Hyderabad-based firm in the country, four other potential vaccines are in various phases of human clinical trial with the Serum Institute of India conducting a phase three trial of the Oxford-Astrazeneca Covid vaccine. 19 while the vaccine developed by Zydus Cadila has completed the phase two clinical trial.
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