Last Updated on November 29, 2020 by The Health Master
Medical experts have maintained that C-19 vaccine, Covaxin, is most suitable for the Indian population, and has the least number of side effects as compared to the other vaccines which are being developed somewhere else in the world.
“Yes, I feel that Covaxin would be the best for the Indians. This vaccine can be termed as ‘swadeshi’ as it is being developed in India from C-19 virus strains prevalent in the country,” said a Professor (Dr) O.P. Kalra, the Vice-Chancellor of Pt. Bhagwat Dayal Sharma University of Health Sciences (UHS), Rohtak.
In conversation with The Tribune on Saturday, Professor Kalra pointed out, that Covaxin has been found to be safe, and that is easier to store, and transport as it can be kept in a temperature of 2-to-8 degrees, while certain other vaccines require temperature as low as -70 degrees.
The Vice-Chancellor—who has volunteered for the clinical human trial of the vaccine himself—has also appealed to the residents, and to come forward trials and contribute to the development of the vaccine.
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Prof. Ramesh Verma of the Department of Community medicine at Rohtak, PGIMS—who is a co-investigator in the ongoing human trials of Covaxin—also asserted, that the indigenous vaccine had certain advantages.
“Covaxin is a killed vaccine, which means that it is prepared after killing the virulence part of the virus by chemicals. On being injected into the body, the non-virulence part of the virus acts as an antigen, and generates anti-bodies. As the virulence part is killed, there are minimum side-effects,” he explained.
Further, Dr Verma pointed out that the clinical human trials of Covaxin were being conducted on volunteers within the country, and no major adverse effects have been reported, so far, which indicated that it was safe, and suitable for the Indian population.
Dr Varun Arora, the in-charge of the C-19 control room at Rohtak, PGIMS, said that the interested people can contact the PGIMC C-19 helpline number 9416447071 to get themselves registered for the trials.
It may be pertinent to mention, that the healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses, and other paramedical staffers, are also being included, as volunteers in the third phase of trials.
Any adult can participate in the trails, even if he or she is suffering, from a chronic disease provided that their blood sugar, liver, and kidney, function test-reports are normal.
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