TNI Bureau:  India’s first indigenous Covid-19 Vaccine, “COVAXIN” – developed by Bharat Biotech-ICMR, has been found to be safe without any adverse impacts in the Phase 1 trial.

Phase 2 trials will begin in September. If all trials succeed, the Covid Vaccine will be available in the first half of 2021, it’s believed.

The phase 1 trial involves 375 volunteers and is being conducted at 12 sites across the country. It is expected to be completed by the end of August.

Currently, 3 Covid Vaccine trials are underway in India in different phases. They include Bharat Biotech-ICMR’s COVAXIN, Zydus Cadila’s ZyCoV-D, and the Oxford/AstraZeneca’s ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (known as Covishield in India). Covishield is being tested and manufactured by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII).

Serum Institute’s Covishield Covid Vaccine may be available earlier than the other two.