Vital health parameters of the two volunteers, who have been administered the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine candidate at a medical college in Pune as part of the phase II clinical trial, are normal, a senior official from the medical facility said on Thursday (August 27).
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Two men, aged 32 and 48, were given the first shot of the 'Covishield' vaccine, being manufactured by Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII), at Bharati Vidyapeeth's Medical College and Hospital on Wednesday. The dose will be repeated after one month, an official said.
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"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," the medical college and hospital deputy medical director Dr Jitendra Oswal said.
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After the vaccine was administered on Wednesday (August 26), both the volunteers were observed for 30 minutes and later allowed to go home, he said.
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"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," he added.
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The vaccine dose will be repeated on both the volunteers after one month, the hospital's medical director Dr Sanjay Lalwani said on Wednesday.
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He said in all, 25 candidates will be given the vaccine in the next seven days.
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Dr Sonali Palkar, in-charge of the medical college's research cell, said four to five persons were screened on Wednesday (August 26) and a decision to administer the vaccine to them as part of the clinical trial is subject to their COVID-19 and antibody test reports.
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SII, the world's largest vaccine maker has signed an agreement to manufacture the potential vaccine developed by the Jenner Institute of Oxford University in collaboration with British-Swedish pharma company AstraZeneca.
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