Mixing Covaxin and Covishield Shots Show Better Results

New study conducted on 18 people who have received Covaxin and Covishield (two different vaccines), concluded better protection.

The Indian Council of Medical Research(ICMR) has revealed that a mix of two COVID-19 vaccines namely Covishield and Covaxin can yield better results.

The study was only conducted on 18 people of Uttar Pradesh's Siddharth Nagar, who by mistake received two doses of two separate vaccines.

‘Getting vaccinated with a combination of an adenovirus vector platform-based vaccine, followed by inactivated whole virus vaccine was not only safe but also produced better immunogenicity. ’
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Covishield is the adenovirus vector platform-based vaccine and Covaxin is the whole virus vaccine. They belong to two different types.

The study titled ‘Serendipitous Covid-19 Vaccine-Mix in Uttar Pradesh, India: Safety and Immunogenicity Assessment of a Heterologous Regime’ has been uploaded on medRxiv.

The reaction of subjects was compared to 40 recipients of two doses of Covishield and 40 recipients of two doses of Covaxin.

COVID-19 Vaccination in India: Issues and Challenges
India’s COVID-19 vaccination program has been launched. It currently uses the vaccines Covishield and Covaxin. There are some issues and challenges that need to be overcome in order to vaccinate all Indians.

All studies are in favour of mixing two vaccines to increase the protection against future infection. The subject expert committee of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization has recommended a trial of mixing Covishield and Covaxin, which will be conducted by the Christian Medical College in Vellore on 300 healthy volunteers.

The ICMR's study was based on the goof-up that took place in May. There was no immediate adverse impact of the mix-up of the beneficiaries.

Further study has revealed that the mix-up has actually worked in favor of protection as these people have more protection than those who have received two shots of the same vaccine.

Mixing vaccines could be sensitive as World Health Organization has warned that individuals should not decide on mixing vaccines.

Indian health government started its vaccination drive on January 16, it asked health workers to exercise extreme caution to make sure that the beneficiaries receive the second shot of the same vaccine that they received as their first shots.

Source-Medindia