A single dose of covacin is also effective in those infected with corona; ICMR

A single dose of covacin is also effective in those infected with corona; ICMR
New Delhi: A massive vaccination drive is underway in the country to win the battle against corona. Two vaccines, mainly covshield and covacin, are being given in large quantities. Meanwhile, a number of arguments have been raised over the exact dose of the vaccine. Now, an ICMR study has shown that one dose of Bharat Biotech's corona vaccine 'Covacin' has the same antibody response in corona sufferers as in two doses given to non-corona infected people.

 
The ICMR study was published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research on Saturday. The report said that if these preliminary findings were confirmed in a large population study, a single dose of the BBV152 vaccine could be given to people previously infected with SARS-CoV-2, allowing more people to be vaccinated even with limited vaccine stocks. The first indigenous corona vaccine in India is codenamed BBV152. The vaccine was approved by the government for emergency use in January.
These two doses of vaccine are given at intervals of 4-6 weeks. In the study, the antibody response of people infected with corona was compared with that of people who had never been infected with corona. Blood samples were taken from health workers and frontline workers receiving BBV152 vaccine between February and May 2021 at vaccination centers in Chennai. This study has been approved by the Ethics Committee of ICMR-NIRT.
Antibody levels were measured at three time points. The first is on the day of vaccination (baseline), the second is one month after the first dose and two months after the first dose. With two exceptions, antibodies detectable at the time of vaccination were found in almost all people infected with pre-corona. But this is a pilot study, said ICMR scientist Lokesh Sharma.