BackCovaxin Phase 3 trials: 13,000 volunteers receive 2nd Covid vaccine dose, says Bharat Biotech
The Indian drug regulator, DCGI, has currently approved two Covid-19 vaccines in the countryPune-based Serum Institute has developed the Covishield vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University while the Covaxin has been developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the ICMR and National Institute of Virology
PremiumHyderabad-based vaccine maker Bharat Biotech on Friday announced the successful administration of the second dose of its coronavirus vaccine Covaxin in the Phase-3 clinical trials across multiple sites in India.
Suchitra Ella, Joint Managing Director of Bharat Biotech, said, "My heartfelt thanks to all of them for their pro-vaccine public health volunteerism."
Last year in December, Bharat Biotech had announced the successful recruitment of 13,000 volunteers, and continued progress towards achieving the goal of 26,000 participants for the Phase III clinical trial of its Covid-19 vaccine.
This indigenous vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 is developed and manufactured in Bharat Biotech's BSL-3 (Bio-Safety Level 3) bio-containment facility, one of its kind in the world.
The Indian drug regulator has currently approved two Covid-19 vaccines. Pune-based Serum Institute of India has developed the Covishield vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University while the Covaxin has been developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Medical Council of research (ICMR) and National Institute of Virology.
Meanwhile, Bharat Biotech's Covaxin has been found to be well-tolerated and produced an immune response, according to the Phase-1 interim data published by the company in the peer-reviewed British medical journal Lancet.
The findings come at a time amid reports that some healthcare workers, including doctors, were not turning up to take Covaxin, which was given the emergency approval under the "trial mode", over safety concerns.
On 16 January, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the country's vaccination programme against the novel coronavirus via video conferencing.
Amid the ongoing vaccination programme, some adverse events have been reported following inoculation.
On Thursday, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan released posters prepared by the Health Ministry to address issues related to coronavirus vaccine hesitancy. He urged people to make judicious use of these posters and make it a mass campaign.
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