Telangana: First access to vaccine key factor driving volunteers for Covaxin

HYDERABAD: Contrary to the practice of volunteers from poor families signing up for clinical trials to earn money, most of the 50 volunteers now taking part in a Covid-19 vaccine trial are from well educated and the primary motivation was to be the first to be vaccinated against the virus.

"For the 50 perfectly healthy volunteers who are now part of the Covaxin clinical trials, the primary motivation was that it will allow them the first access to the vaccine," said a senior official at the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) where the trials began on June 20. "Idea of contributing to research on the vaccine was also a motivation for some," he said.

The second dose of the indigenous Covaxin has been administered to 32 volunteers so far after the 50 who were given the first dose did not report any adverse impact on their health.

"Although there are exceptions, but volunteers typically are from poor background as seen in most of the previous trials. In most of the cases they do not know what is being administered into their body," said Syed Sanaullah, strategic member, Indian Organisation of Rare Disease (IORD). The organisation studies clinical trials going around the world.

In this case, more participation from the educated volunteers could be due to the massive publicity on every update on Covid-19, he said.

"The risk associated with any trial is basically documented and there are established protocols in place for fall back in case of an adverse reaction. But the risk might look smaller than the dread of Covid-19. For the volunteers, being the first ones to get the safety net is a motivation," he added.

50 volunteers chosen for trial

There was an overwhelming response from the educated and young for the trials.

“The 50 volunteers were chosen from over 200 volunteers, who had come from all across the country, including Telangana. There was a huge response for the trials and we got a very good selection of volunteers,” the official said.