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With the current situation where every day the number of COVID-19 cases rises up, there comes a ray of hope. Zydus Cadila and Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) have started the first phase of human testing for their COVID-19 Vaccine on 375 people.
According to their firm, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin vaccine is made up of using particles of COVID-19 that were killed so that they would not be able to infect or replicate in those injected with it. These doses when injected will help to build immunity by helping the body to kill the antibodies against the deadly virus.
Zydus Cadila’s ZyCov-D is a “plasmid DNA” vaccine that uses genetically engineered plasmids that are coded with the antigen that will help to fight against the virus and built up the immune system. The DNA sequence injected would match that of the virus, helping the body build antibodies against it.
According to the sources, the human trial of Covaxin started on 15th July. The first phase of this trial is to be conducted on 375 participants across 12 clinical trial sites in the country. AIIMS Patna and PGIMS Rohtak have already begun the vaccination process.
Bharat Biotech with the partners of the Indian Council Of Medical Research (ICMR) and National Institute of Virology (NIV) have jointly developed the vaccine. The ZyCov-D phase I and II trials target 1,048 participants and are to be conducted at one site–Zydus Research Centre in Ahmedabad.
These vaccines are performed as double-blind which means neither patient nor the researchers have an idea who is getting a placebo and who is getting the treatment. They will be eventually come to know once the test period is over.
During the first phase of the trial, it will be checked if people injected have any adverse effect in their body, and whether the vaccine works against this deadly coronavirus virus will be checked in the second stage.
Article Written By Dikhya Mohanty
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