CHENNAI: Joining the international quest for a vaccine against Covid-19, two Chennai-based institutions will offer the Oxford vaccine, one of the most promising candidates against the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, to nearly 300 volunteers. This is a part of the multi-centric clinical trial in India.
In four to six weeks, the directorate of public health will administer the vaccine — called Covishield — to healthy volunteers in Tamil Nadu. “We are planning to vaccinate at least 120 to 150 people as part of phase two and three clinical trials. This will be done at the directorate office on Anna Salai. Doctors at the department of community medicine at the Madras Medical College will be co-investigators for the trial,” said a senior health department official. Director of public health Dr T S Selvavinayagam will be the principal investigator for the project.
Besides DPH, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research (SRIHER) from Chennai will also test the vaccine. “Until now, we have been a part of several drug trials for Covid-19. We are now into a vaccine trial. We will test the vaccine made by Bharat Biotech and the Oxford vaccine on our campus. The Oxford vaccine will be given to at least 120 people,” said SRIHER dean (research) and senior professor S P Thyagarajan.The ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD1222) vaccine developed by AstraZeneca Plc and Oxford University and manufactured by Serum Institute of India, will be tested across 17 cities in India with more than 1,600 volunteers.
Of the several candidates, the Oxford one has shown an acceptable safety profile and strong immune response in early trials. Studies have shown the vaccine triggered a T-cell response within 14 days of vaccination, and an antibody response within 28 days. T-cells are white blood cells that can attack coronavirus infected cells, whereas antibodies are protein molecules that are able to neutralise the virus so that it cannot infect cells when initially contracted.
Besides the two city-based institutions, PGIMER Chandigarh, AIIMS in Delhi, ABJ Medical College in Pune, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRIMS) in Patna, Andhra Medical College in Visakhapatnam, and JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research in Mysore will be a part of the trial.
In four to six weeks, the directorate of public health will administer the vaccine — called Covishield — to healthy volunteers in Tamil Nadu. “We are planning to vaccinate at least 120 to 150 people as part of phase two and three clinical trials. This will be done at the directorate office on Anna Salai. Doctors at the department of community medicine at the Madras Medical College will be co-investigators for the trial,” said a senior health department official. Director of public health Dr T S Selvavinayagam will be the principal investigator for the project.
Besides DPH, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research (SRIHER) from Chennai will also test the vaccine. “Until now, we have been a part of several drug trials for Covid-19. We are now into a vaccine trial. We will test the vaccine made by Bharat Biotech and the Oxford vaccine on our campus. The Oxford vaccine will be given to at least 120 people,” said SRIHER dean (research) and senior professor S P Thyagarajan.The ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD1222) vaccine developed by AstraZeneca Plc and Oxford University and manufactured by Serum Institute of India, will be tested across 17 cities in India with more than 1,600 volunteers.
Of the several candidates, the Oxford one has shown an acceptable safety profile and strong immune response in early trials. Studies have shown the vaccine triggered a T-cell response within 14 days of vaccination, and an antibody response within 28 days. T-cells are white blood cells that can attack coronavirus infected cells, whereas antibodies are protein molecules that are able to neutralise the virus so that it cannot infect cells when initially contracted.
Besides the two city-based institutions, PGIMER Chandigarh, AIIMS in Delhi, ABJ Medical College in Pune, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (RMRIMS) in Patna, Andhra Medical College in Visakhapatnam, and JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research in Mysore will be a part of the trial.
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