No side-effects, four Covaxin volunteers in Karnataka healthy

BELAGAVI: In a promising sign for trials of the indigenous Covaxin, four volunteers who were administered shots last month have shown no side-effects and remain healthy. The booster shots, developed by Bharat Biotech, were given to volunteers at Jeevan Rekha hospital here that was chosen for human clinical trials by the ICMR.
Two male and female volunteers each at this hospital are among 325 people who are currently under observation in the first phase of clinical trials across the country. In the second phase, around 750 people will participate across eight centres and allocation of volunteers to Jeevan Rekha Hospital is awaited. Hospital authorities said the next phase is expected to start anytime soon. The first four volunteers received two shots each at a gap of 14 days — on July 31 and August 14.
Blood samples being sent to ICMR regularly
The blood samples of four volunteers are being sent to ICMR at regular intervals for further analysis. They are monitored by a team of doctors and strictly asked to stay away from Covid patients and those suspected to have contracted the disease.
Amith S Bhate, director of Jeevan Rekha Hospital, said blood samples collected from the volunteers are sent to ICMR to ascertain how effective the vaccine is in terms of antibodies developed. “No volunteers complaining of any side-effects can be seen as initial success in the trial. All four are still under observation and there will be no more trials in the first phase. The hospital is now preparing for the second phase and awaiting allocation of numbers by ICMR,” Bhate said.