As covid-19 cases in India ballooned to 9,11,427, two indigenous Indian vaccine candidates against covid-19 will enter human trials this month with over 1000 volunteers to be enrolled for the process on a fast-track basis, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said on Tuesday.
Since India is one of the largest vaccine producers in the world, it is the country’s “moral responsibility” to fast-track vaccine development process to break the chain of coronavirus transmission, ICMR Director General Dr Balram Bhargava said, referring to the two vaccine candidates developed indigenously.
Bharat Biotech has started human trials on its vaccine candidate, ‘Covaxin’. Covaxin, being developed by the Hyderabad-based biotech company and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is India’s first indigenous COVID-19 vaccine.
Bharat Biotech had stated that it is working to develop an initial capacity of 200 million vials of the vaccine.
The company had earlier received approval from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to conduct phase I and II human clinical trials.
Volunteers from across the nation will first undergo health checks to ensure proper liver function and absence of infection before being cleared for small doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. The sites for the trial includes cities Mumbai, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Rohtak, Chennai, Patna, Vishakhapatnam among others.