India begins human trials of Coviaxin, hoping for Covid-19 vaccine success

Private and state-owned hospitals will test the potential vaccine on volunteers, aged between 18 and 55

Human trials for Covaxin, one of the first potential vaccines developed in India in the fight against Covid-19, is underway in 12 centres across the country.

Covaxin is derived from a strain of the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, and it was isolated at the Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV). The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Bharat Biotech are jointly working for the preclinical as well as clinical development of this vaccine. It has already received approval for phase-I and phase- II human trials by the Drug Controller General of India (DGCI).

The ICMR had identified