COVID-19 vaccine: India to begin human clinical trials; Patna AIIMS selects 18 volunteeers

After Russia became the first country to successfully conclude human trials for the world's premier coronavirus vaccine, India is set to begin the human clinical trials for vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the dreaded coronavirus disease (COVID-19). For the purpose of the trials, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Patna has selected 18 volunteers on whom the vaccine trails will be conducted.

According to sources, the hospital authority is set to begin the human trials of the vaccine from today (i.e. July 13, Monday).

Till now, only the Bharat Biotech International Ltd and the Zydus Cadila pharmaceutical companies' indigenously developed vaccine prototypes have got an approval for the human trials from the Drugs Controller General of India.

Around seven Indian firms are currently working on coronavirus vaccines. Among them, Bharat Biotech's 'Covaxin' vaccine prototype was the first to get a regulatory nod from the DGCI to begin Phase I and Phase II human trials.

After that, Zydus Caldia's ZyCoV-D received permission as well.

These two vaccine prototypes from India are among the dozen other coronavirus vaccine prototypes from over 100 candidates across the world, that have been approved for human clinical trials 

Notably, AIIMS Patna is one of the 12 institutes selected by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for conducting the coronavirus vaccine trials.

Several people contacted the AIIMS hospital to take part in the trail but only 18 people aged between 18 to 55 years were selected for the process. 

The selected volunteers will first go through a medical check-up on Monday, and after their reports are analysed, the subjects will further proceed for the trail.

As per the ICMR guidelines, the first dose of the vaccine will be given to only those whose reports will be fine.

After the first dose of the vaccine, the patient will be under a doctor's supervision for 2 to 3 hours after which they will be sent home.

A total of three dosages of injection will be given to the patients to complete the trial process.