Clinical trials of Oxford COVID-19 vaccine begin in Chennai & Pune

Second Phase clinical trials of Oxford COVID-19 vaccine begin in Chennai and Pune. In Chennai, two prominent medical institutions are starting the second and third phase field trial of the Oxford vaccine candidate Covishield.

In another development, the Tamil Nadu Government has exempted college students having arrears except in the last semester from writing the examinations, in view of Covid-19. Previously the exemption has been made for the regular students.

Meanwhile, the total number of COVID-19 infections in the state is nearing the four lakh mark. 5958 people were tested positive yesterday taking the total to over three lakh 97 thousand. However, the active caseload in the state is about 52 thousand.

Chennai is one of the seventeen locations in India to conduct the field trial of the promising vaccine candidate Covishield, developed jointly by the Oxford University and AstraZeneca. The Government Rajiv Gandhi General Hospital and the Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research are the two institutions in the city that run the trial.