BMC sends queries to ICMR about Covishield trials

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) may have to wait for a while to start clinical trial of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which has been named Covishield

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) may have to wait for a while to start clinical trial of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which has been named Covishield in India, for Covid-19 treatment.

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BMC sent two queries to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) about the trial on Saturday. The queries were raised by the ethics committee of King Edward Memorial (KEM) and BYL Nair hospitals which have been selected to run the trial in Mumbai.

A civic official, requesting anonymity, said, “We have sent two queries to ICMR asking about the budget and insurance of the volunteers who will participate in the trial. The insurance amount has to be similar across the country. So, the council needs to inform us about the insurance amount.”

Both the hospitals are waiting for the final nod from their respective ethics committee to begin clinical trials of the promising Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. After a nod from the ethics committees and a response from ICMR, the trials can start.

“We are expecting to hear from ICMR by tomorrow (Tuesday). If the queries get resolved, we will start the trial by this weekend,” said the official.