Covid vaccine human trial begins in city

Bhubaneswar: Human trial of the much-awaited indigenous vaccine against the coronavirus began at the Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital here on Monday.
Covaxin, which is being developed by Bharat Biotech, was administered to some volunteers of the trial, E Venkat Rao, principal investigator of the trial, said.
Although the hospital authorities did not disclose the number of volunteers administered the vaccine, sources said five people got the shot. The vaccination was done after the volunteers underwent a rigorous screening procedure.
Rao, who is a professor at the hospital’s department of community medicine, said there was a lot of enthusiasm among those who had offered to be volunteers in the trial.
The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) which is collaborating with the pharma company to develop the vaccine, has chosen 12 medical institutes in the country for the human trial. The IMS and SUM Hospital is the only institute in Odisha to be chosen for the purpose.
The registration of volunteers is also still on. Those interested in volunteering for the project may contact the institute by registering online at ptctu.soa.ac.in under the section ‘register for clinical trials’. Volunteers need to be disease-free and can screen themselves using a simple questionnaire available at the same website, Rao said.
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