Anil Vij receives a test dose of Covaxin in Ambala hospital | Photo credit: ANI
Key points
- The third phase of the Covaxin trial has started in Haryana as of today.
- It is the largest clinical trial conducted for a COVID-19 vaccine in India.
Ambala: Haryana’s Health Minister Anil Vij received a test dose of Indian-made Covaxin at a hospital in Ambala on Friday. The third phase of the COVID-19 vaccine trial in Haryana has started as of today.
On Wednesday, Anil Vij had volunteered to be the first volunteer for Covaxin’s third phase trial. Today the test dose was administered at the Ambala Cantt Civil Hospital.
Before the third phase tests, the Haryana Health Minister had taken to his official Twitter account and said: “I will be given a test dose of the coronavirus vaccine #Covaxin, a product of Bharat Biotech, tomorrow at 11 am at the Civil Hospital, Ambala Cantt, under the expert supervision of a team of doctors from PGI Rohtak and the Department of Health. I have volunteered to take the test dose. “
It should be noted that in early October, the Comptroller General of Drugs of India gave permission to Bharat Biotech to conduct the phase III clinical trial for Covaxin.
The phase 3 trials will involve some 26,000 volunteers across India and will be carried out in partnership with the Indian Council of Medicine and Research (ICMR). It is the largest clinical trial conducted for a COVID-19 vaccine in India.
The trial volunteers will receive two intramuscular injections approximately 28 days apart. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive Covaxin or placebo.
The trial is double-blind, so researchers, participants, and the company won’t know who is assigned to which group. Volunteers wishing to participate in this trial must be adults over 18 years of age.
Covaxin has been evaluated in approximately 1,000 subjects in phase I and phase 2 clinical trials, with promising safety and immunogenicity data.
