The preliminary trials of the vaccine were made public in July by Oxford University after they showed positive results

As pharmaceutical manufacturers across the world make efforts to find a vaccine for Covid-19, the Drugs Controller of India (DCGI) has given its nod to Serum Institute of India (SII) for conducting phase 2 and 3 clinical trials of the Oxford vaccine Covishield, Hindustan Times has reported.

According to HT, on July 20, the preliminary trials of the vaccine were made public by Oxford University after they showed positive results. The results which were published in The Lancet suggested the vaccine to be safe and effective against SARS-CoV-2.

As per the HT’s article, the vaccine was tested on over 1,000 adults with no history of COVID-19. The trials were made between April 23 and May 21 in five different hospitals in Britain.

Talking to Hindustan Times, Niti Aayog member, Dr. Vinod Paul said, “The vaccine is the ultimate solution to prevent Covid-19 transmission even though India has managed to control the outbreak very well so far.”

Serum Institute of India has entered in a partnership with United Kingdom based pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca to produce and make the vaccine available to low-and middle-income countries (GAVI countries), HT reported.

SII’s CEO Adar Poonawalla had earlier said that his company will be conducting trials and producing a large quantity of vaccine after it gets the necessary regulatory approvals. By giving its nod, DCGI has paved its way for the same. As per the article, SII is looking forward to starting human clinical trials in India with approximately 5,000 participants.