India Will Test Mixing of Two Different COVID Vaccines
India may soon begin testing the feasibility of a regimen that mixes two different Covid -19 vaccines to see if it helps boost immune response to the virus.
Currently in India there is a severe shortage of vaccines. Also many people are unaware that after getting the first dose of a vaccine, the second dose must be of the same company. But there have been many cases where people have taken two different vaccine doses. Now India will soon begin testing the feasibility of a regimen that mixes two different Covid-19 vaccines to see if it helps boost immune response to the virus. The testing may be carried out both using vaccines that are currently available in the country, and those that are going to be approved. Approximately eight vaccines may be mixed and matched as part of the process.
According to Dr N K Arora, chairman of the Covid-19 working group under the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI), Work is expected to begin “in a few weeks”. These include the three vaccines that are currently approved for use in the country, Serum Institute of India’s Covishield, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, and the Russian made Sputnik V. The tests will study factors such as whether vaccines based on different platforms can be given together, and which vaccines to administer in the first and second doses. Dr Arora also said, “We are looking for a combination of vaccines that provide better protection. At the moment, the vaccines used are providing protection against severe symptoms, but they are not providing protection from infection and transmission of the virus to the extent that we would have liked. We want to find the perfect vaccine which will strengthen the immune system without any side effects.”
