COVID-19 Vaccine India: 30-year-old Man Given First Shot of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin

Coronavirus Vaccine in India Updates: The volunteer will be kept in observation for two hours in the hospital. After that, he will be sent home and be monitored for the next seven days.

Coronavirus Vaccine Latest News: Covaxin, the first indigenous vaccine developed by Hyderabad’s Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research, has been administered to a 30-year-old volunteer on Friday at AIIMS, Delhi — making a huge step towards the fight against COVID-19 in India. Reports said five volunteers would be vaccinated on Friday in the first phase of human clinical trials of the vaccine.

AIIMS, Delhi has received around 3,500 applications from volunteers who wanted to take part in the clinical trial process, being led by AIIMS doctor Sanjay Roy.

To determine the fitness of the participants, several tests, including diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, kidney and liver diseases, are being conducted.

The phase 1 trial in AIIMS will involve 100 healthy people. A report in the Jagran, citing AIIMS doctor Dr Sanjay Roy, professor of Community Medicine, stated that screening of study subjects is going on. Dr Roy, who is leading the trial at AIIMS, said that they have received investigation reports of many people, adding that vaccination will start if all goes well. Initially, 10 participants will receive the vaccine and their report will be reviewed by the institute’s Ethics Committee for safety, after which the rest of the subjects will be vaccinated.

The report added that all 3,500 people who have volunteered for the vaccine trial are being screened for various parameters at AIIMS. About 50 types of tests, including diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, kidney and liver diseases are being conducted on study participants to ensure that they are healthy and fit for the trial.

So what’s next?

The volunteer will be kept in observation for two hours in the hospital. After that, he will be sent home and be monitored for the next seven days.

In phase I, the vaccine would be tested on 375 volunteers. The second phase would include around 750 volunteers.

Phase I of the trial will be done on healthy people, aged between 18 and 55 years, having no co-morbid conditions. Women with no pregnancy will also be selected for the trial in the first phase. In the second phase, 750 people will be recruited and they will be between 12 and 65 years of age.