DTMT NETWORK
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has informed that Covaxin’s ability to neutralize the UK variant strain of Covid-19 has recently been established in clinical trials.

Explaining the findings of Covaxin's phase 3 clinical trials that showed the efficacy of 81% in preventing Covid, ICMR said that the phase 3 trial, jointly initiated by ICMR and Bharat Biotech in mid-November 2020, was conducted in a total of 25,800 individuals across 21 sites.

“The interim efficacy trend of 81%, analyzed as per the protocol approved by the DCGI, puts it at par with other global front-runner vaccines,” said ICMR.

Dr. Balram Bhargava, Director General, ICMR, emphasized that the bench-to-bedside journey of completely indigenous Covid vaccine in less than 8 months’ time showcases the immense strength of Atmanirbhar Bharat to fight the odds and stand tall in the global public health community. It is also a testament to India’s emergence as a global vaccine superpower,” he added.

ICMR explained that in March 2020, following the successful isolation of the SARS CoV-2 virus at ICMR-National Institute of Virology (NIV), it entered into a public-private partnership with Bharat Biotech to develop the virus isolate into an effective vaccine candidate.

“ICMR-NIV characterized the vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech through in-vitro experiments and electron microscopy studies,” said ICMR.

As per the ICMR, pre-clinical studies in small animals and hamsters showed promising results in terms of safety and immunogenicity. Further studies conducted in rhesus macaques also established remarkable safety and protective efficacy of Covaxin.

“Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials conducted in 755 participants demonstrated a high safety profile of the candidate vaccine with seroconversion rates of 98.3% and 81.1% on day 56 and 104 respectively,” claimed the ICMR.

“The development and deployment of Covaxin ensures that India has a powerful weapon in its arsenal in a continually evolving pandemic situation and will go a long way in helping us win the war against Covid-19,” said Dr. Samiran Panda, Head, Epidemiology and Communicable Disease, ICMR, and Director, National AIDS Research Institute.

“The need of the hour is to ensure that people in India continue to receive the vaccine and break the chain of virus transmission,” emphasized Dr Panda.