Coronavirus update | Phase II human trial of Oxford vaccine begins in India, 2 volunteers administered first shot

The other site of phase II trial in Pune -- B J Medical College (to which the Sassoon General Hospital is attached) -- is ready and waiting for the vaccine candidate to arrive

Moneycontrol News

August 26, 2020 / 05:49 PM IST

5 | India to get 100 million AstraZeneca's vaccine shots by December 2020, say Reports: With Covishield, the coronavirus vaccine candidate jointly developed by the University of Oxford and British firm AstraZeneca entering phase 3 trials, Serum Institute of India (SII) has started ramping up the production of the vaccine. The world's largest vaccine maker plans to have 100 million doses ready by December 2020 for an inoculation drive that could begin across India that same month, Bloomberg reported on November 13.

Two volunteers were administered a COVID-19 vaccine developed by the University of Oxford as part of its phase II trials at Bharti Vidyapeeth's Medical College and Hospital in Pune.

Pune-based Serum Institute of India has partnered with AstraZeneca to manufacture the vaccine, named Covishield.

"Five volunteers were tested for RT-PCR and antibodies, out of which reports of three showed they have anti-bodies, hence the vaccine was administered to two," Medical Director of Bharti Vidyapeeth's Medical Hospital told news agency ANI.

The first shot, according to Sanjay Lalwani, the medical director, was administered to a 32-year-old man after his COVID-19 reports and antibodies tests came out negative.

Another 48-year-old male volunteer was also given the vaccine, he added. The two volunteers are being monitored, Lalwani said.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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