New Delhi: The AIIMS here is unable to find the required number of volunteers for the phase-3 trial of Bharat Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine. Officials said people are unwilling to participate in the exercise. This is because they are thinking why take part in a trial when a COVID-19 vaccine would be available soon for everybody.
AIIMS in the national capital is one of the sites conducting the final phase of the trial of the vaccine, ‘Covaxin’. AIIMS needs around 1,500 volunteers for the purpose. Covaxin has been indigenously developed by Bharat Biotech, in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
“We wanted 1,500-2,000 participants but so far, we have been able to recruit only around 200 participants. People are unwilling to participate in the exercise. They are thinking why take part in a trial when a vaccine would be available soon for everyone,” Dr Sanjay Rai said. He is a professor in the department of community medicine at the AIIMS and also the principal investigator of the study, said.
Dr Rai said volunteers are opting out when the procedure, about it being a double-blind randomised placebo-controlled trial in which 50 per cent would be administered the shot while the other 50 per cent would receive the placebo, is being explained to them.
He informed when the phase-1 trial was to begin they needed 100 participants but received over 4,500 applications. Even during the phase-2 trial, the hospital received around 4,000 applications.
Dr Rai said people should come forward to participate in the trial. They are planning to raise awareness through advertisements, e-mails and phone calls on why it is important to take part in the clinical trial to get a safe and efficacious vaccine.