New Delhi (NVI): The much awaited Phase II clinical trials of the Oxford Covid-19 vaccine, being manufactured by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) began today.
Serum Institute of India (SII) partnered with AstraZeneca to manufacture the COVID-19 vaccine candidate for India and low-and-middle income countries.
Five volunteers enrolled to get for the Phase II trial of Covishield vaccine at Bharti Vidyapeeth’s Medical College and Hospital in Pune.
The doctors conducted COVID-19 and antibodies tests on all of them. Three volunteers had tested positive for coronavirus antibodies test, hence they became ineligible for the trial. Two of them were administered the vaccine and are being monitored, according to media reports.
In all, 25 candidates will be given the vaccine in the next seven days.
SII, the world’s largest vaccine maker, selected 17 sites in India to conduct the Phase II trial of Oxford COVID-19 vaccine. A total of 1,600 candidates will take part in the study.
The other hospitals where trials are to be conducted include B J Medical College Hospital in Pune, AIIMS Delhi, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences in Patna, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh, Nehru Hospital in Gorakhpur and Andhra Medical College in Visakhapatnam.
-CHK
