Summary:
The Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education & Research (PGIMER) on Thursday resumed the ongoing Clinical phase II trial of Oxford developed Covid-19 vaccine — Covishield.
News reports suggest that the first dose is likely to be administered within two days.
Ten candidates were screened today, with nine of them fulfilling the eligibility prerequisites for the study, including the minimum age of 18, no underlying medical condition and no prior Covid-19 infection. Besides, family members of the candidates are also required to be Covid-19 negative.
Earlier, the recruitment of candidates was put on hold for a short while at the PGINMER as approval for the safety of the first 100 participants from the Data Safety and Monitoring Board (DSMB) was awaited. The trials were to begin by the first week of September after recruiting volunteers.
The Serum Institute of India (SII) and the ICMR have partnered for the clinical development of two global vaccine candidates. One among them is ChAdOx1-S, which is a non-replicating viral vector vaccine developed by the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca. This vaccine is undergoing Phase II/III bridging studies initiated by the ICMR at 17 clinical trial sites, including the PGIMER.