2 Indian vaccines enter phase 2 trials: ICMR

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Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 4

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) today said two Indian vaccine candidates that recently received approvals to start phase 1 and 2 human trials among healthy volunteers had completed phase 1 trials and entered phase 2.

A day after the Drug Controller permitted Serum Institute of India's application to conduct phase 2 and 3 human trials on Oxford University-Astra Zeneca vaccine candidate, Director General, ICMR, Balram Bhargava said, "The inactivated virus vaccine being developed by the ICMR and Bharat Biotech has completed phase 1 studies in 11 sites and phase 2 trials are set to start. DNA vaccine candidate for Covid-19 developed by Zydus Cadila has also completed safely and early efficiency studies and has embarked on phase 2 trials at 11 sites and is progressing well."

Bhargava says once the vaccines become available, issues of priority distribution, logistics and training of vaccine administrators will have to be addressed. "Till we have a safe and efficacious vaccine and even once we have it, sustained behaviour change to practice social distancing and hand and respiratory hygiene will remain our best defence against Covid-19," he added.

25-30% rapid antigen tests

The Indian Council of Medical Research said 25 to 30 per cent of all Covid-19 tests are rapid antigen method tests.

Bhargava said the Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RTPCR) test must be done to confirm the disease in a symptomatic person whose test report is negative through an antigen test which has been found to have good specificity of 85 to 90 per cent, but moderate sensitivity of 55 to 85 per cent.

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