For the first time, India has permitted the combination of Covid-19 vaccinations.
Following two doses of either Covishield or Covaxin, patients who have received Hyderabad-based Biological E’s Covid-19 vaccine Corbevax as a heterologous booster in adults are now able to receive it as a third shot.
India will now be able to mix and match Covid-19 vaccinations for the first time thanks to this ruling. Up until this point, the third dose of the vaccination had to be the same as the first and second doses.
The choice was made almost two months after India’s drug regulator approved Corbevax as a heterologous Covid-19 booster dose for people age 18 on June 4. The approval was based on clinical trial data that demonstrated “significant enhancement” in immune response as well as the excellent safety profile necessary for an effective booster.
Rajesh Bhushan, the union’s health secretary, informed the states that persons who received their second dosage of either Covaxin or Covishield might receive Corbevax as a booster dose six months or 26 weeks later.
Additionally, he informed the states in his letter that starting on August 12, the Cowin platform would offer Corbevax as a heterologous vaccine. Bhushan wrote to states, “On the Co-WIN portal, all essential changes have been made with regard to the administration of heterologous precaution dose using Corbevax to those who are eligible and due for precaution dose.
The Corbevax vaccine, which is given deeply into the muscles over the course of two doses spaced 28 days apart, is the first locally created RBD protein subunit vaccine against Covid-19. The ideal storage range for India’s needs is between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius.
The standard subunit vaccination platform provides the foundation for Corbevax; rather than using the entire virus, the platform uses its components, such as the spike protein, to elicit an immune response. The S-protein is a benign component of the subunit vaccination. When the S protein is recognised by the human immune system, antibodies are created as white blood cells to combat the illness.
Texas Children’s Hospital Centre for Vaccine Development created the antigen for Bio E’s Corbevax, which was licenced from BCM Ventures, the integrated commercialization team of Baylor College of Medicine. To reserve 30 billion pills of Corbevax, the central government has already paid an advance of Rs 1,500 crore.
In India, youngsters between the ages of 12 and 14 are currently prescribed Corbevax. 2.89 crore children in this age range have had two shots, while 3.96 crore children have already received their first injections.
Bio E previously received permission from India’s pharma regulator based on a multi-centre phase 3 clinical trial including 416 participants who had previously received two doses of either Covishield or Covaxin at least six months prior. According to the business,
Based on a multi-center, phase 3 clinical trial including 416 participants who had previously received two doses of either Covishield or Covaxin at least six months prior, Bio E had previously received permission from India’s drug regulator. According to the manufacturer, a booster dose of Corbevax “substantially boosted the neutralising antibody titers” in the Covishield and Covaxin groups as compared to placebo shots.
(Source: National Agency)
Prasanta Patnaik