AIIMS doctor, first to get Covaxin shot in 3rd phase, says there were no side-effects

AIIMS doctor, first to get Covaxin shot in 3rd phase, says there were no side-effects

DurgeshNandan.Jha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: 01.12.2020 

India is among the few countries in the world to have isolated the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19. Now, it is on track to develop one of the cheapest vaccines, according to Dr M V Padma Srivastava, chief of neurosciences at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

Last week, Dr Srivastava volunteered for the third phase of trial for Covaxin, an indigenous vaccine developed by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in collaboration with Bharat Biotech. “I was the first to receive the Covaxin shot in AIIMS, Delhi, last Thursday,” the neuroscience expert told TOI. Another shot will be given after 28 days.”

The 55-year-old doctor added that she had not suffered any side-effect after the administration of the vaccine. Recently, there was a controversy when a participant in a test for another Covid-19 vaccine claimed to have had severe side-effects.

AIIMS plans to enrol more than 1,000 volunteers for the third phase of the Covaxin trials. Sources said 40-50 volunteers have already registered and have even received the first shot of the indigenous Covid vaccine.

“The third phase of the trials will have more than 26,000 participants across the country. It is the most important stage of trials and comes before the vaccine can be used to immunise people against the viral infection that has been plaguing the world for nearly nine months,” disclosed a senior doctor in the community medicine department of AIIMS. The doctor also revealed that the first and second phase of the trials for Covaxin had been completed and that it had been well tolerated by the test participants.

Apart from Covaxin, there are other vaccines for Covid being developed, among them being those by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Oxford-AstraZeneca. “Unlike the other Covid vaccines, Covaxin is likely to be much cheaper,” claimed the doctor at AIIMS who is leading the vaccine trials. “Also, storage and transportation are going to be easier for India. This vaccine can be stored at a temperature of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius.” The other vaccines comparably require very low storage and transport temperatures.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Bharat Biotech facility in Genome Valley, Hyderabad, on Saturday and congratulated the scientists involved in the vaccine development project for their progress in the project. After the visit, the PM had tweeted, “At the Bharat Biotech facility in Hyderabad, was briefed about their indigenous Covid-19 vaccine. Congratulated the scientists for their progress in the trials so far. Their team is closely working with ICMR to facilitate speedy progress.”

After Dr Srivastava (in pic), AIIMS plans to enrol over 1k volunteers for the 3rd phase of the Covaxin trials. Sources said 40-50 volunteers have already registered