Oxford COVID-19 vaccine trial begins in India
The much-awaited trial of COVID-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford started in India on Wednesday. Pune-based 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 them. Three volunteers had tested positive for coronavirus antibodies test, hence they became ineligible for the trial. Two of them were administered the vaccine, PTI reported.
“Doctors at the hospital administered the first shot of the Covishield vaccine to a 32-year-old man after his reports of COVID-19 and antibodies tests came out negative,” Dr Sanjay Lalwani, medical director of Bharti Vidyapeeth’s Medical College, Hospital and Research Centre told PTI.
Another 48-year-old male volunteer was also given the vaccine, he added. While the 32-year-old volunteer works for a private company, the other one is associated with the healthcare sector, he said. “The two volunteers, who were administered the vaccines are being monitored,” Lalwani said.
Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by volume, 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.
COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by the Jenner Institute, a part of the Nuffield Department of Medicine at the University of Oxford, showed a positive result in its initial trial. According to a report published in the British medical journal The Lancet, the COVID-19 vaccine produced a dual immune response in people aged 18 to 55.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation earlier said that they will provide at-risk funding of $150 million to support Serum Institute of India’s manufacturing of two promising vaccines by University of Oxford and Novavax.
Under this agreement, drugmaker SII can charge a maximum of $3 per dose for the two COVID-19 vaccines. The vaccine maker will get the funding from the Gates Foundation through international vaccine alliance GAVI.
Those who took Covishield will remain under medical observation for the next two months, said Maharashtra Minister Dr Vishwajeet Kadam. At least 25 candidates will be given the vaccine in the next seven days, according to sources.