HYDERABAD: The Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) is likely to conduct trials of the country’s first indigenous Covid-19 vaccine — Covaxin — on about 60 candidates. The NIMS doctors, in a prelude to conducting the human trials, began preliminary work on Tuesday.
The hospital is one of the 12 institutions where nearly 375 candidates would be administered the first dose of the vaccine as part of the human trials. It is learnt that several people have shown i n t e r e s t , through e-mails and calls, to be part of the trials. But they would first be shortlisted, tested for fitness and Covid-19 antibodies at a Central lab, after which the candidates would be finalised. NIMS hopes to conduct the trials on about 60 candidates but the number would be determined next week once the selection is completed.
“Several procedures and protocol work started on Tuesday. The samples of the candidates, who came to the hospital, would be collected to check for Covid. These would then be sent to the ICMR lab in Delhi. Once we get the reports, the candidates’ overall health status would be checked and the drug administered on a trial basis,” a doctor working on the Covaxin human trials said.
The NIMS was selected for the potentially life-saving trial as it has been a phase-I trial centre for years. “We are not in a position to say how many candidates would be shortlisted but the response is overwhelming. Many voluntarily want to help in finding a cure,” a senior doctor said.