Two Indian vaccines for COVID-19 enter human trial phase

2004 Gabrielle Benenson This technician is in the process of correctly placing a Mantoux tuberculin skin test in this recipientÂ’s forearm, which will cause a 6mm to10mm wheal, i.e., a raised area of skin surface, to form at the injection site.

The Mantoux tuberculin skin test is used to evaluate people for latent tuberculosis (TB) infection. In the United States, this skin test consists of an intradermal injection of exactly one tenth of a milliliter (mL) of tuberculin, which contains 5 tuberculin units. Correct placement of this intradermal injection involves inserting the needle bevel slowly at a 5° to 15° angle. The needle bevel is advanced through the epidermis, the superficial layer of skin, approximately 3mm so that the entire bevel is covered and lies just under the skin. A tense, pale wheal that is 6 to 10mm in diameter appears over the needle bevel.

Amid the 140 candidates for COVID-19 vaccines under various stages of development worldwide, a couple of vaccines are from India and these include COVAXIN by Bharat Biotech and ZyCov-D Vaccine by Zydus Cadila which have been given nod by the Drug Controller General of India for human trial. It really marks a creditable achievement for Indian healthcare companies.

According to the National Institute of Virology as well as the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, the ICMR Institutions based in Pune and Hyderabad, currently, six other Indian companies are also working on developing vaccines for COVID-19. Out of the total 140 vaccine candidates worldwide, 11 vaccine candidates in total have entered the human trial phase. However, none of these vaccines can be ready for mass use before 2021.

According to reports, the vaccine for coronavirus cannot be produced on a mass scale without Indian manufacturers getting involved in the production. One of the renowned vaccine manufacturing hubs, India already accounts for supplying 60% of vaccines to UNICEF. US-based Moderna pharmaceutical and Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute, Washington have already signed agreements with Indian manufacturers for the production of COVID-19 vaccines.

Other than these, AZD1222 is also one of the leading candidate COVID-19 vaccines, which has been developed by University of Oxford. The license for this vaccine has been given to Cambridge-headquartered AstraZeneca British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical company.

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