Researchers said vaccine caused minor (representational) side effects
New Delhi:
Trials of the coronavirus vaccine developed at the University of Oxford will begin in India as soon as a license is obtained, said the Indian firm, partner of the researchers in the United Kingdom.
The AZD1222 vaccine had a favorable response in the first phase of clinical trials. It did not cause any serious side effects and caused immune responses of antibodies and T cells, according to the results of tests published in the medical journal The Lancet.
The researchers said the vaccine caused minor side effects, but some of them could be reduced by taking paracetamol.
Adar Poonawalla, head of the Serum Institute of India, the world‘s largest vaccine manufacturer in partnership with researchers from Oxford, said the trials “have shown promising results and we are extremely pleased with them.”
“We will ask the Indian regulator for approval tests in a week. As soon as they give us permission, we will start with the vaccine trials in India. In addition, we will soon start manufacturing the vaccine in large volumes, “he added.
The Lancet magazine intervenes at the time when India started its first human trial on the COVAXIN vaccine developed by natives. AIIMS-Delhi director Dr Randeep Guleria said adding that it would take researchers at least three months to arrive at the first dataset.
The Oxford vaccine is one of more than 100 in development worldwide and its human trials began on April 23.
Clinical trials on seven others – some of them located in China and the United States – are also underway.
More than a million people in India have been infected with the highly contagious virus which, according to doctors, not only causes viral pneumonia, but affects several organs, causes inflammation of the blood vessels and discoloration of the skin.
