Bhubaneswar: The third phase of the human trial of Covaxin, the indigenous vaccine being developed against COVID-19 by ICMR and Bharat Biotech, will commence at the Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital in the Odisha capital soon.
“After the first and second phases with demonstrable safety profile and immunogenicity, a large-scale efficacy trial involving thousands of volunteers is being planned now,” Dr E Venkata Rao, Principal Investigator in the Covaxin human trial and Professor in the department of Community Medicine at IMS and SUM Hospital, said on Sunday.
The age limit and eligibility/screening criteria for this phase would be relaxed and several volunteers, who are otherwise apparently healthy, would be recruited for the trial. Like the previous phases, half of the volunteers would receive placebo and the remaining half would be administered COVAXIN. Even healthcare workers would be recruited for the trial, he said.
He further said that the volunteers would be followed up over a considerable period of time to look at the efficacy of the vaccine in preventing the development of the corona disease.
IMS and SUM Hospital is among the 21 medical institutes selected by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) for the third phase trial. It is the only institute in Odisha, which has been picked for this purpose.
Those interested can enrol themselves for the trial by registering online at www.ptctu.soa.ac under the section register for clinical trials, he added.
