Serum Institute begins clinical trial of Oxford Covid-19 vaccine candidate; 6 people to get first dose today

In a significant development in Covid-19 vaccine development, the 'Covishield' vaccines developed by Serum Institute of India (SII) were administered to five persons in Pune, marking the commencement of clinical trial.

The first batch of volunteers was administered the vaccine at the Bharti Vidyapeeth’s Bharti Hospital & Medical College in Pune. “At around 12 noon, five persons of different age groups, genders were given the vaccine,” Bharati Vidyapeeth secretary Vishwajeet Kadam told reporters in Mumbai.

The Serum Institute of India, Indian Council of Medical Research and Bharti Vidyapeeth Deemed University are jointly conducting the trials.

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Kadam, who is a senior Congress leader and Maharashtra minister of state for social justice, said that the trials are being done under the guidelines of the ICMR.

“They would be monitored by the teams of Bharati Hospital and ICMR,” he said.

Read: ICMR to launch coronavirus vaccine portal: All you need to know

“They would be monitored by the teams of Bharati Hospital and ICMR,” he said.“We hope to see the vaccine in two-and-a-half to three months in the market,” he said.

The SII had partnered with biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to manufacture the experimental Covid-19 vaccine candidate developed by the University of Oxford.