We are aware that India has authorized two vaccines against coronavirus—Covaxin developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech and Covishield produced by the Serum Institute of India — for emergency use in the country.
The Bharat Biotech on Wednesday said that its Covaxin vaccine was 81 percent efficient in preventing coronavirus after the third round of clinical trials. The vaccine has been developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research and the National Institute of Virology.
The trials involved 25,800 participants and were conducted in partnership with ICMR. This was the largest ever trial conducted in the country.
“The Phase 3 study enrolled 25,800 participants between 18-98 years of age, including 2,433 over the age of 60 and 4,500 with comorbidities,” the company said in a statement.
Earlier this week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and other Ministers from the cabinet was vaccinated with the first dose of Covaxin.