Covaxin is being developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech.
New Delhi:
Covaxin, India’s first indigenous vaccine for the highly infectious coronavirus, has been designed to be effective if a person takes two doses, Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company Bharat Biotech clarified in a statement today, noting that “efficacy can be determine 14 days after the second dose “. The clarification came shortly after Haryana’s Health Minister Anil Vij, who volunteered in the third phase of vaccine trials in his state, said he tested positive for COVID-19. “Safety is our main criterion in the development of vaccines,” said the pharmaceutical firm.
“Covaxin clinical trials are based on a 2-dose schedule, administered 28 days apart. The efficacy of the vaccine will be determined 14 days after the second dose,” the Hyderabad firm said in an official statement. One of three Covid candidate vaccines being tested in India, Covaxin, in its third phase of trials, will be administered to “26,000 subjects at 25 sites,” the statement read.
“Phase 3 trials are double blind and randomized, where 50 percent of the subjects will receive the vaccine and 50 percent of the subjects will receive placebo,” the firm emphasizes.
Earlier today Anil Vij tweeted: “I had a positive corona test. I am admitted to Ambala Cantt Civil Hospital. All those who have been in close contact with me are recommended to have a corona test. He had previously been given a single test dose of the vaccine.
I got a positive Corona test. I am admitted to the Ambala Cantt Civil Hospital. Everyone who has been in contact with me is advised to get a crown test.
– ANIL VIJ MINISTER HARYANA (@anilvijminister) December 5, 2020
In a statement, the Health Ministry said: “Antibodies against infection accumulate in a human being only after a specific number of days after the second dose of the vaccine is taken. This is a two-dose vaccine. The minister in question has taken only one dose of the vaccine. “
Bharat Biotech is also conducting clinical trials for Covaxin in the United States and the United Kingdom, it said today, adding that it has conducted more than 80 clinical trials in 18 countries in the past 20 years.
“Bharat Biotech has supplied more than 4 billion doses, to more than 80 countries, with an excellent safety follow-up report. The phase 3 trials of Covaxin is the only efficacy trial being conducted in India to COVID-19 vaccines, to determine their suitability for the diverse Indian population “, underlines the firm.
Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Hyderabad firm to personally review the development of Covaxin.
Yesterday, he said that experts expect India to receive a vaccine in the coming weeks.
The country has recorded more than 96 lakh of infections so far, the second highest in the world after the United States.
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