Coronavirus fight: Human trial of vaccine begins in 6 Indian cities, no major side effects yet

Representative Image (Photo Credits: The Times of India)

Amidst the rising cases of Wuhan Coronavirus in India, the human clinical trials for the much-anticipated vaccine has been initiated in six cities. Reportedly, the vaccine candidates of two companies, namely, Bharat Biotech and Zydus Cadila are currently being used for the clinical trials.

As per the report, both the vaccine candidates were approved for Phase I and Phase II trials and they were administered for the first time to volunteers on July 15. Reportedly, another vaccine developed by Oxford University will also be tested in India, on receiving regulatory approval.

Covaxin, developed by Bharat Biotech, is used for human trials in several Indian cities such as Delhi, Hyderabad, Patna, Kancheepuram, and Rohtak. The clinical trials will then be reportedly initiated in other cities including Nagpur, Visakhapatnam, Belgaum, Gorakhpur, and Kanpur. As per reports, while the testing of ZyCov-D developed by Zydus Cadila is limited to Ahmedabad, Covaxin is set to be tested on 500 volunteers between 18 and 55 in 12 different hospitals in 12 different cities. The vaccine candidate is the result of a joint collaboration between the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Institute of Virology (NIV).

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No major side effects of Coronavirus vaccine

Dr. Sanjay Rai who serves as the principal investigator of the human trial project at AIIMS Delhi informed that there was no immediate major side effect on a volunteer after he was administered the vaccine.

There are some minor side effects – like redness of the skin where the dose was given, pain and mild fever – which can be seen in any vaccine test. But, it went smoothly without any other health issues. The doctors are continuously monitoring their health, ” PK Singh heading the clinical trials at AIIMS Patna was quoted as saying.

OpIndia Staff: Staff reporter at OpIndia