Covaxin human trial begins at SUM Hospital in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: The human trial of the much-awaited Coronavirus vaccine ‘Covaxin’ has begun at the Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital in Bhubaneswar on Monday.

COVAXIN has been administered to several volunteers at the SUM Hospital, said sources.

Covaxin is developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the ICMR and the National Institute of Virology (NIV).

It had recently got the approval for human clinical trials from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI).

It is one of the first indigenous vaccines developed against COVID-19 and is derived from a strain of SARS-CoV-2 isolated by ICMR-National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune.

IMS and SUM Hospital is the only medical institute in Odisha which is conducting clinical trial of the vaccine.