COVID-19 vaccine: Mumbai's KEM Hospital gets nod for trials

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation-run King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital on Tuesday got the approval of the Maharashtra ethics committee for conducting phase II and III trials for the Oxford Covishield vaccine candidate, an official said.

KEM Hospital Dean Dr Hemant Deshmukh told PTI that post-approval of the committee, screening of volunteers for the trials will begin from Wednesday.

The process would need 100 volunteers, he added.

"We need an adult without prior infection, including coronavirus. Starting tomorrow (Wednesday), we will screen people and hopefully will be able to give doses to 3-4 people every day as part of the ongoing trial.

"We need to keep a volunteer under observation for an hour after administering the vial," he said.

Sources said Nair Hospital, another major facility run by the metropolis' civic body, has also received approval for conducting clinical trials of the Oxford Covishield vaccine.

Trials of the Oxford vaccine candidate are being conducted in Pune also.

The Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) has partnered with British-Swedish pharma company AstraZeneca for manufacturing the COVID-19 vaccine candidate, being developed by the University of Oxford, UK.