In the latest development about the Covid vaccine in India, the medical facility of Pune Medical College has said that vital health parameters of the two volunteers who were given the first dose of Oxford Covid-19 vaccine candidate as part of phase 2 clinical trial, have appeared to be normal.
Two men, aged 32 and 48, were administered the first shot of the 'Covishield' vaccine in Pune on Wednesday. Serum Institute of India (SII) in alliance with Oxford University is manufacturing the vaccine in Bharti Vidyapeeth's Medical College and Hospital.
According to the hospital's medical director Dr. Sanjay Lalwani, both the volunteers will administer the other dose after one month.
Dr. Jitendra Oswal, Deputy Medical Director, medical college, and hospital said, " Since Yesterday, our medical team is in touch with the two volunteers and both are fine. They do not have any pain, fever, injection-side reaction, or systemic illness post-vaccination.'
Following the vaccine administration on Wednesday, both the volunteers were observed for 30 minutes and were later allowed to leave for home, said Dr. Oswal.
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He further added, "They have been given all the necessary emergency numbers (to contact in case of need) and our medical team is also conducting follow-ups with them."
Taking the trials onto the next level, the vaccine will be injected to the other 25 candidates in the coming 7 days.
As per Dr. Sonali Palkar, in-charge of the medical college's research cell, primarily four to five persons were screened for the trial on Wednesday. The decision, however, was made checking their Covid-19 and antibody test reports.
'Covishield', has been developed by the Jenner Institute of Oxford University in collaboration with British-Sweden pharma company AstraZeneca.