How ICMR and Others Spun Covaxin's Phase 1 Trial Results Out of Context Even though ICMR chief Balram Bhargava is one of the paper's authors, he has attempted to hype up its results. A medic fills a syringe with Covaxin in Ahmedabad, November 26, 2020. Photo: Reuters/Amit Dave A paper published in The Lancet on January 21, 2021, describes the results of Covaxin’s phase 1 clinical trial. Much of its contents were known already â but as disinformation campaigns go, this one takes the biscuit. On January 23, the Times of Indiapublished a story under the headline, “Amid efficacy row, Covaxin gets a thumbs up from Lancet”.