Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij who had offered to be the first volunteer in the third phase trial of Covaxin, was administered the trial dose today in a hospital in the state’s Ambala Cantonment. Just days ago, the 67-year-old minister had announced on twitter that he will be the first volunteer in his state for the anti-covid vaccine. Bharat Biotech had on Monday announced the commencement of Phase III trials of Covaxin, involving 26,000 volunteers across India. The trials will be conducted in partnership with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and will be the largest clinical trial conducted for a COVID-19 vaccine in India. The trial has been approved by the Drugs Controller General of India. In Haryana, Pandit Bhagwat Dayal Sharma University of Health Sciences in Rohtak and ESIC hospital in Faridabad have been identified among those sites across India where trials will be conducted. As many as 1000 volunteers enrolled and were evaluated for safety and immunogenicity data during phase 1 and Phase 1 human trials of Covaxin. After successfully completing the interim analysis from the Phase 1 and 2 human trials of Covaxin, Bharat Biotech received approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for Phase 3 clinical trials with 26,000 participants in over 25 testing sites across India. Volunteers are required to be aged over 18 to take part in human trials of Covaxin.
