Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij who had offered to be the first volunteer in the phase three trials for Covaxin, a potential vaccine against COVOD-19, will get the dose on Friday. The 67-year-old senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader said he will be administered the trial dose of the indigenous vaccine at the Civil Hospital at Ambala Cantt.
Bharat Biotech had on Monday said the Phase 3 trial of Covaxin will involve 26,000 volunteers across 25 centres in India and is being conducted in partnership with the ICMR. It is the largest clinical trial conducted for a COVID-19 vaccine in India.
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“I will be administered a trial dose of Coronavirus vaccine #Covaxin a Bharat Biotech product Tomorrow at 11 am at Civil hospital, Ambala Cantt under the expert supervision of a team of doctors from PGI Rohtak and Health Department, Vij said in a tweet.
“I have volunteered to take the trial dose,” he added. Vij, who is an MLA from Ambala Cantt, had on Wednesday said the third phase of trial of Covaxin will begin in the state on November 20 and had offered to be the first volunteer to get vaccinated.
Covaxin is being developed indigenously by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Last month, the vaccine maker said it had successfully completed interim analysis of Phase 1 and 2 trials and is initiating Phase 3 trials.
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This is India’s first Phase 3 efficacy study for a COVID-19 vaccine, and the largest Phase 3 efficacy trial ever conducted. The human trial of Covaxin had begun at Rohtak’s Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences in July, Vij had said earlier.