Covishield, Covaxin mix can give better results, says ICMR

It has not yet been peer-reviewed, yet the study was conducted on eighteen people who have received two doses of two different vaccines, according to reports.

Covishield and Covaxin, the two main vaccines of India’s Covid vaccination programme, were found to be more effective when mixed, with the results released by the Indian Council of Medical Research. It was only conducted on 18 people from Uttar Pradesh’s Siddharth Nagar, all of whom received two doses of two separate vaccines, who also happened to be recipients of the study.

Immunization with a combination of an adenovirus vector platform-based vaccine, and followed by inactivated whole virus vaccine, was both safe and effective, according to a study that has not yet been peer-reviewed. The adenovirus vector-based vaccine is called Covishield, developed and manufactured by Pune’s Serum Institute of India, and the whole virus vaccine is called Covaxin, developed and manufactured by Bharat Biotech and the Indian Council of Medical Research. The two varieties of Covishield and Covaxin are distinctly different.

Results

1. Out of the 18 participants, two were unwilling and were therefore excluded.

2. Eleven men and seven women ranging in age from 62 to their mid-80s were recruited for the study. A case of hypertension was observed.

3. From both the homologous groups, 40 individuals were included.

4. Compared to those who received Covigild or Covaxin, the safety and immunogenicity profile of these people was evaluated.

5. An overall reduction in adverse events from the combination vaccination regime in all three groups underlined the safety of the strategy.

6. The immunity to Alpha, Beta, and Delta heterologous variants of the vaccine was shown to be stronger.

7. Participants also had significantly higher IgG and neutralising antibody responses when compared to those in the homologous groups.