Russia Covid vaccine may reach Kanpur next week for trials

Kanpur: The first batch of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine for COVID-19 is likely to reach Kanpur's Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Medical College by next week wherein the vaccine's Phase 2 and Phase 3 human clinical trials will be conducted.

The decision to conduct the human clinical trials of the vaccine was taken after Dr Reddy's Laboratories got approval from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) in this regard, an official said.

Medical College principal RB Kamal said the human clinical trials of the vaccine will start from next week.

"As many as 180 volunteers have registered for the trials. Head of the research Saurabh Agarwal will determine the dosage of the vaccine to be administered. One dose will be administered and the condition of volunteers will be monitored to determine whether they need further doses or not," he said.

Kamal said the volunteers' vitals and condition will be checked periodically and the data will be analysed to determine whether the vaccine is a success or not. He said the effect of the vaccine on the volunteers will be studied for seven months after the same is administered once, twice or thrice within an interval of 21 days.