Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved a proposal to study the effects of mixing Covaxin and Covishield, two vaccines against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). On July 29, the CDSCO’s Subjects Experts Committee recommended that a study be conducted at the Christian Medical College (CMC) in Vellore, Tamil Nadu.
A total of 300 volunteers will be given Covaxin and Covishield.
The proposed study, on the other hand, contradicts a recent study by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), which found that combining two different shots is “safe and effective.” An “accidental” mix-up of Covishield and Covaxin was observed in a village in Uttar Pradesh in May, according to the ICMR study. Six weeks after receiving Covishield as the first dose, recipients were given Covaxin as a second dose. The ICMR discovered that “combining two different Covid-19 vaccines results in a better immune response than two doses of the same vaccine.”
Experts, including Dr. Gagandeep Kang, the country’s top virologist, see combining two vaccines as a way to address the vaccine shortage, though they caution that more research is needed to determine the efficacy of this method in preventing Covid-19. Dr. Kang is a professor at CMC Vellore, by the way.
The DCGI has approved Covaxin and Covishield as the first two vaccines for the nationwide immunisation campaign, which began on January 16. Covaxin is India’s first and only indigenous anti-Covid shot, developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech International Limited. The Oxford University-AstraZeneca shot, on the other hand, is made in India by Pune-based Serum Institute of India as Covishield (SII). Aside from these, the DCGI has also approved the use of three other vaccines in the country.
