The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has announced that it has selected a total of 43 volunteers as of Monday, September 29 for clinical trials of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by the University of Oxford’s Jenner Institute. Further, 12 of these participants have reportedly received the first dose of the vaccine.
It is said that four male volunteers under the age of 40 were given the first dose of the vaccine on Monday morning at BYL Nair Hospital. This institution joins King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital in undertaking vaccine trials.
Those who received the vaccination were reportedly kept under observation for a period of four hours and later discharged from the hospital the same evening. These volunteers will receive a second shot of the vaccine in a month’s time.
Read Also - Russia To Supply 100 Million Doses Of Coronavirus Vaccine To India
An official involved with the vaccine trials said - “So far, we have selected 20 volunteers, including three women. None of them is related to our institute. They underwent RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) and antibody tests as per the guidelines. To avoid any health complications, we have selected young volunteers.”
In what has come across as an encouraging sign, authorities are reportedly seeing a lot of queries from citizens that are willing to take part in the trials. “We are flooded with queries from citizens [who wish to volunteer] since Saturday. We have given waiting numbers to each of them. Every day, we will call two-three people for medical check-ups,” an official from KEM Hospital said.
Also read - KEM Hospital To Begin Phase 2 And Phase 3 Trials Of Covishield Vaccine
As for the efficiency of the vaccine, it reportedly has the ability to provoke a T-Cell response within 14 days of receiving the shot while an antibody reaction will reportedly occur in 28 days. T-Cells are the white blood cells that can combat COVID-19 infections.
Both hospitals will conduct this vaccine trial on around 100 participants with the selection process expected to be completed by mid-October. Though vaccine trials were briefly halted after one of the volunteers in the UK developed an adverse reaction, trials were soon resumed. The Drug Control General of India (DCGI) provided the requisite permissions to start the second and third phases of the vaccine trial to the institutions which also had to go through ethics committee approvals.
Also Read - COVID-19 Vaccine Trials In KEM Hospital On Hold After UK Participant Has A Reaction
Share
Tweet
