Mixing Covishield and Covaxin gives better result: ICMR study

The study, however, involves only 98 participants and is yet to be peer reviewed

A study by ICMR involving 98 people showed that combining these two Covid-19 vaccines elicited better immunogenicity than two doses of the same vaccine. Eighteen of the 98 people had inadvertently received Covishield as first dose and Covaxin as the second in Siddarthnagar, Uttar Pradesh.

‘Safe; side effects similar’

The study also found that immunisation with combination of Covishield and Covaxin was safe and the adverse effects were also found to be similar when compared to the same dose regimen. The study, conducted from May to June, is yet to be peer reviewed.

“To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that reports the effects of heterologous prime-boost vaccination with an adenovirus vectored vaccine followed by an inactivated whole virus vaccine,” the researchers said.

While Covishield is adenovirus vector platform-based vaccine, Covaxin is an inactivated whole virion BBV152. For the study, besides the 18 individuals from Siddarthnagar, 40 recipients of two doses of Covishield and 40 recipients of two doses of Covaxin were recruited.

“We compared the safety and immunogenicity profile of them (18 individuals) against that of those receiving either Covishield or Covaxin. Lower and similar adverse events following immunisation in all three groups underlined the safety of the combination vaccine-regime. “Immunogenicity profile against Alpha, Beta and Delta variants in the heterologous group was superior and IgG antibody and neutralising antibody response of the participants was also significantly higher compared to that in the homologous groups,” the study stated.

Meanwhile, 39,070 more people tested positive for Coronavirus and states confirmed 491 fresh fatalities in a span of 24 hours, according to the Union health ministry’s data updated on Sunday morning. The active cases declined by 5,331  to 4,06,822.

‘Hazards of not reopening schools serious’

The hazards of not reopening schools after prolonged closure due to the pandemic are “too serious to be ignored”, according to a parliamentary panel. “The closure of schools for over a year has had a deep impact on the wellbeing of students, especially their mental health. The hazards of not opening the schools are too serious to be ignored. The confinement of young children within the four walls of the house has adversely altered the relationship between the parent and the children.”

It has impacted the “social

fabric of the family negative-ly leading to early/child marriage and increased involvement of children in household chores. Keeping this situation in mind, it becomes all the more imperative to open schools,” the panel has noted. The seriousness of the matter should not be overlooked and a well-balanced reasoned view may be taken for opening up of the schools, the panel said.

Accentuating vaccine programmes for all students, teachers and allied staff so that schools may start functioning normally at the earliest; holding classes on alternate days or in two shifts to thin out students along with observance of physical distancing and compulsory wearing of face masks at all times, frequent hand sanitisation etc; regular thermal screening at the time of attendance and conducting random RT-PCR tests to identify and isolate any infected student, teacher or staff immediately, are among the recommendations for reopening of schools made by the panel.

Increase Bengal’s vax quota: Cong leader to PM

Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury on Sunday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking his intervention to increase the quota of vaccines for West Bengal. He also said there is a lurking danger of Covid-19 explosion in the state given its dense population. West Begal’s Congress chief said that 70 per cent of the state’s 10 crore population is “still waiting for protection from the virus”. Earlier, CM Mamata Banerjee had also requested the PM to up the doses for the state, stating that the Centre was providing an inadequate amount of doses.

3,19,34,455
Total no. of Coronavirus cases in india so far

4,27,862
Total no. of deaths due to the virus in India so far

4,06,822
Total no. of active cases in India

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