Clinical trial: 17 volunteers given Sputnik V vaccine in Pune

A total of 17 volunteers have been administered Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine at a Pune hospital as part of phase-II human clinical trials, doctors said on Sunday.

Sputnik V vaccine has been developed by the Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology and Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF). As per reports, India has purchased 100 million doses of the candidate from Russia.

"Seventeen healthy volunteers were administered Sputnik V vaccine in the last three days as part of the human trials," said Dr S K Raut, Head of Clinical Research Department of Noble Hospital, where the phase-II trials are on.

The inoculation process began on Thursday, he added.

"All the volunteers, who were administered the vaccine, will be under observation for the next few days," Dr Raut added.

The selection of the volunteers was done as per the laid-down norms as they need to be healthy, doctors said.

The third phase trials of the vaccine are planned to be held at the KEM Hospital Research Centre located near Pune, another doctor said.

According to the Clinical Trial Registry- India (CTRI), a total of 1,600 subjects are planned to be roped in for these trials (100 in phase-II and 1,500 in phase-III).

Besides Pune, trials for this vaccine are also planned to be held in Lucknow and Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh), Jaipur (Rajasthan), Vellore (Tamil Nadu), Mysore (Karnataka) and Puducherry. Dr Reddy's Laboratories Limited and Sputnik LLC are jointly conducting these trials.

Image Credits: PTI