Oxford Covid-19 vaccine trials begin at PGI Chandigarh, Mumbai's KEM Hospital

New Delhi, 26-Sep-2020

Phase 2 trials of one of the candidates that have proven extremely promising in the fight against COVID-19 have now begun at The Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, news agency has reported. The first dose of the Oxford vaccine, being produced by Serum Institute of India and dubbed Covishield was administered to three candidates on Friday, informed PGI Chandigarh Director, Professor Jagat Ram. Ram said that two females and a male were given a dosage of 0.5 ml. "Two females aged 57 and 26 years and a 33-year-old male were administered the vaccine candidate at the institute," he specified. The government-run hospital, KEM, in Mumbai, will also administer the first dose of vaccine on Saturday, a PTI report confirmed. Dean Dr Hemant Deshmukh said that the vaccine will be administered to three persons, as the trials commence at the Mumbai-based hospital. Another person will be given a placebo, as part of the regular testing procedure, he added. KEM is the first hospital in Mumbai where the human trials of the vaccine are being conducted. The PGIMER, Chandigarh, is one of the seventeen sites where phase 2 trials of Covishield are being conducted. The candidates will reportedly be monitored for 28 days after the 0.5 ml dose of vaccine, and then will be administered another dose, followed by another 28 days of observation. A blood sample will then be taken, and they will be observed for 6 months. The Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine previously attracted eyeballs when a trial subject developed a reported nerve ailment, following which trials in India, as well as the UK, were halted. However, AstraZeneca later clarified that the symptoms were only limb weakness and loss of sensation, and the candidate had then recovered.