COVID-19 Vaccine Needs Animal Trial Before Human Application: ILS Director

Bhubaneswar: Any vaccine against COVID-19 needs to undergo animal trial before being tried on human beings, said Director of Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar Dr. Ajay Parida.

Answering the questions posed by Government spokesperson on COVID-19 Subroto Bagchi, Dr. Parida said if a COVID-19 vaccine is developed in any laboratory, it will be first tried on animal models like rats and hamsters before going for humans trials.

Dr. Parida said if the results of the application on the lower animal models prove positive, then a human trial can be undertaken. However, if a vaccine is already used on humans, it can be administered directly without going for the process of lower animal model.

He was of the opinion that only animal model study can give an idea about its implication both positive and negative.

The institute has already tested 13,121 samples for COVID-19 and plans to increase the testing in coming days.