BHARAT BIOTECH-ICMR'S COVAXIN IS SAFE! EXPERTS SHARE 'LATEST UPDATE' AND AVAILABILITY IN INDIA     

As countries are focussed on developing a vaccine for the deadly COVID-19, Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech is also in the line in developing the vaccine candidate in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Institute of Virology (NIV). 

As per preliminary results of the Phase 1 clinical trials, the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech and the ICMR - Covaxin is safe. 

"The vaccine is safe. We have not observed any adverse events in any of the volunteers at our site," said Savita Verma, the principal investigator who is leading the trial at PGI, Rohtak, told Economic Times.

Further in its report, ET stated that investigators are collecting blood samples to test the immunogenicity of the vaccine. They also expect to complete the Phase 1 trials by the end of August.

"We are in the process of giving a second dose to the healthy volunteers and so far, we have not seen anything unusual event in patients. It is safe," Sanjay Rai, the principal investigator at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi also told the publication.

Currently, there are 375 volunteers at 12 sites across India, who have enrolled for the clinical trial. However, two doses are being administered to each individual, ET further reported. 

As the pandemic has created a race to develop a vaccine for the novel coronavirus, media reports also suggest that if the process continued smoothly, the vaccine would be available in the first half of 2021.

Other than Bharat Biotech, Zydus Cadila is the other Indian company that has begun human clinical trials of its vaccine candidate. "There is a tremendous pressure on us to develop the vaccine. But for us, safety and quality are paramount. We don't want to kill more people with the wrong vaccine," Krishna Ella, Chairman of Bharat Biotech International, as per Business Standard.