The Health Ministry has agreed to allow international companies to initiate phase III clinical coronavirus vaccine trials in Nepal. According to Dr. Sameer Kumar Adhikari, the Ministry’s joint spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, the Ministry has ordered the Nepal Health Research Council to give permission to companies that meet all relevant procedures.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Population (Mohp) has given approval to the Nepal Health Research Council(NHRC) to start the third phase clinical trials of the Covid-19 vaccine in Nepal. Therefore, incoming days it will be great to see the effectiveness of these steps made by (Mohp).

There are almost 170 COVID-19 experiments in progress across 30 countries. Most of them will fail and only a few will succeed. For them to succeed, all the trials must be conducted. Vaccine manufacturing companies of the respective companies should take responsibility for the participants and those participating in the trial must be insured.

China, Russia, and UK’s Vaccines Might Be Tasted In Nepal

After giving the approval in regard to NHRC decision they have said in a statement issued on Sunday :

“We would like to inform it to all that the companies from China, Russia and UK Oxford vaccine group which have produced vaccines have shown willingness to carry out the third phase clinical trial in Nepal and that processes to this regard have already been initiated.”

However, the NHRC is yet to set a protocol for conducting clinical trials.

“The government is preparing to set a protocol as several companies will show interest for clinical trials,” Pradeep Kumar Gyawali, MinisterF for foreign affairs said

So it seems that there is going to be a phase III vaccine trial in Nepal. In the case of Nepal, the three vaccines which are probable to be tested in Nepal are:

The Oxford vaccine group (Covishield) 

The Oxford Vaccine Group is planning to conduct its clinical trial of Covishield in Nepal as soon as possible. The first and second phase of this vaccine has shown positive results. Therefore, there is a great chance that they might do trail phases in Nepal.

Russia(Sputnik-V) 

Similarly, the Russian COVID-19 vaccine “Sputnik-V” which is believed to be winning the vaccine race. But it hasn’t conducted phase three trials yet. And the Russian government has shown willingness to carry out the third phase of a clinical trial of its COVID-19 vaccine in Nepal.

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Honghi group of China

Likewise the Honghi group of china wants to conduct a trial on at least 1000 volunteers in Nepal.

Is it safe to conduct such kind of trail in Nepal? 

The question has arised whether the trial should be conducted or not.To answer this answer we have to know the vaccine testing process.

Preclinical testing:In this phase vaccines are tested on a lab and animals like mice or monkeys to check the immune response. 

Phase I Safety trails:In this phase the vaccines are tested in a small number of people to check the dosage,safety and also the immune response. 

Phase II Extended trails:In this phase, Scientists test the vaccines to hundreds of people of different age groups. 

Phase III Efficacy trails:After passing all the above phases, the test is run on thousands of people. This phase is conducted on a large number of people. So this phase reveals the evidence of working of the vaccines as this is conducted on thousands of people.

Combined phase:In case of emergency like now, Scientists combine two phases together to accelerate the vaccine development process. 

Approval : After all the successful trails then the vaccines are approved reviewing the results. 

All the phases are conducted after the successful completion of the previous phase. Since the test which is going to be conducted in Nepal is phase III test it is safer than the previous phase.  It still has risk factors involved but we also have responsibility to contribute in the vaccine development process.

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A few other nations have indeed approved Phase III clinical trials, which include India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. According to news, the vaccine from China Sinovac Biotech Ltd is being trialed in the United Arab Emirates as well . The government’s decision to send the green light to companies ready to perform Phase III clinical trials in Nepal which comes in the face of Nepal’s growing number of cases of coronavirus.

In a global context, It has recorded more than 170 potential vaccines being produced in various parts of the world according to the World Health Organisation. Of these, 138 are in pre-clinical phase-not yet tested in humans. Similarly, 25 of the clinical trials are in phase I, 15 in phase II and 7 in phase III.

In a global context, It has recorded more than 170 potential vaccines being produced in various parts of the world according to the World Health Organisation. Of these, 138 are in pre-clinical phase-not yet tested in humans. Similarly, 25 of the clinical trials are in phase I, 15 in phase II and 7 in phase III.

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