Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin: List of states which have started phase 3 trials of Covid-19 vaccine

Bharat Biotech International Limited’s Covaxin is among various Covid-19 vaccine candidates currently undergoing trials in India. Developed by the Hyderabad-based firm in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Covaxin is India’s first indigenous vaccine candidate against the coronavirus disease. On November 16, Bharat Biotech announced the commencement of phase 3 trials of Covaxin, making it the largest Covid-19 vaccine trial being conducted in India as well as the first to reach the third phase.

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Since then, Covaxin’s phase 3 trials have commenced in several states, including Karnataka and West Bengal on Wednesday, and many other states are expected to begin soon. Here are some of the states where the third phase trials of the anti-coronavirus vaccine have started:

1. Haryana: On November 20, Haryana started Covaxin phase 3 trials, with the state home minister Anil Vij being the first volunteer to be administered a trial shot. In fact, Vij, who also holds the health portfolio, had volunteered to become the first person in the state to be administered a trial shot.

2. Gujarat: Phase three trials of the vaccine commenced in Gujarat on November 26 at Ahmedabad’s Sola Civil Hospital, the only site in the state where the exercise will be carried out.

3. Madhya Pradesh: People’s University in Bhopal is the site for phase 3 trials of Covaxin in Madhya Pradesh. The trial vaccination here started on November 27.

4. Karnataka: Chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Wednesday virtually inaugurated phase 3 trials at Bengaluru’s Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre. This is where the third phase trials of Covaxin in Karnataka will be conducted.

5. West Bengal: Kolkata’s ICMR-National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (ICMR-NICED) will host Covaxin phase 3 trials in West Bengal. Governor Jagdeep Dhankar, who inaugurated the trials on Wednesday, as well as state minister Firhad Hakim, have expressed willingness to volunteer.

Additionally, Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) started phase 3 trials of the vaccine on November 26, with Dr MV Padma Srivastava, chief of the neurosciences centre here, taking the first shot. Trial shots were administered to three other volunteers as well.

(With agency inputs)