NEW DELHI: In a major development, AIIMS Delhi will begin human trials of India’s first indigenous COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin, from next week on 100 healthy volunteers aged between 18 and 55.

The volunteers will be kept under observation for a period of nearly 150 days.

Covaxin is developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National Institute of Virology (NIV), IANS reported.

According to Bharat Biotech, The Phase 1 clinical trial for Covaxin has been initiated across the country from July 15 onwards, and this is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial on 375 volunteers across the country.

The report added that AIIMS has also set up a dedicated email and phone number for the volunteers to register themselves for this project.

(With inputs from agencies)