COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin human clinical trials to begin in AIIMS from tomorrow. This is how you can volunteer
After approximately 5 months of coronavirus spread in India, human clinical trials of indigenously developed COVID-19 vaccine -- Covaxin -- will begin in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) from tomorrow. AIIMS will begin enrolling healthy volunteers from tomorrow who will be undergoing the trials.
AIIMS-Delhi is among the 12 sites selected by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) for conducting phase I and II human trials of Covaxin. In phase I, the vaccine would be tested on 375 volunteers and the maximum of 100 of them would be from AIIMS.
Who Can Volunteer?
Healthy persons having no comorbid conditions and without a history of COVID-19, aged more than 18 years and less than 55 years, would be eligible to participate in the randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial.
Few volunteers have already registered for the trial. AIIMS would start the screening of the individuals and evaluate their health condition from Monday onwards before vaccinating them.
Anybody willing to participate in the trial can send an email to Ctaiims.covid19@gmail.com or an SMS to or call on 7428847499. The institute may also put up these contact details on its website.
COVID-19 vaccine candidate Covaxin, developed by the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the ICMR and the National Institute of Virology (NIV), had recently got the nod for human clinical trials from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).
Noting that this was the first indigenous vaccine being developed by India, ICMR Director General Dr Balram Bhargava in a letter to principal investigators of the 12 sites recently had asked them to fast-track the human clinical trial approvals stating it is one of the "top priority projects which is being monitored at the top-most level of the government".
The trials have so far started in AIIMS, Patna and some more sites.
The DCGI has permitted two vaccines -- one developed by the Bharat Biotech International Limited in collaboration with the ICMR and another one by Zydas Cadila Healthcare Ltd to go in for phase I and II human clinical trials.
