Mixing Covishield and Covaxin gives better result: ICMR study

A study by ICMR involving 98 people showed that combining these two Covid19 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 PradeshlsquoSafe side effects similarrsquoThe 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 reviewedldquoTo the best of our knowledge this is the first study that reports the effects of heterologous primeboost vaccination with an adenovirus vectored vaccine followed by an inactivated whole virus vaccinerdquo the researchers saidWhile Covishield is adenovirus vector platformbased 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 recruitedldquoWe 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 vaccineregime ldquoImmunogenicity 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 groupsrdquo the study statedMeanwhile 39070 more people tested positive for Coronavirus and states confirmed 491 fresh fatalities in a span of 24 hours according to the Union health ministryrsquos data updated on Sunday morning The active cases declined by 5331 to 406822lsquoHazards of not reopening schools seriousrsquoThe hazards of not reopening schools after prolonged closure due to the pandemic are ldquotoo serious to be ignoredrdquo according to a parliamentary panel ldquoThe 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 childrenrdquoIt has impacted the ldquosocialfabric of the family negatively leading to earlychild marriage and increased involvement of children in household chores Keeping this situation in mind it becomes all the more imperative to open schoolsrdquo the panel has noted The seriousness of the matter should not be overlooked and a wellbalanced reasoned view may be taken for opening up of the schools the panel saidAccentuating 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 RTPCR tests to identify and isolate any infected student teacher or staff immediately are among the recommendations for reopening of schools made by the panelIncrease Bengalrsquos vax quota Cong leader to PMLeader 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 Covid19 explosion in the state given its dense population West Begalrsquos Congress chief said that 70 per cent of the statersquos 10 crore population is ldquostill waiting for protection from the virusrdquo 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 doses31934455Total no of Coronavirus cases in india so far427862Total no of deaths due to the virus in India so far406822Total no of active cases in IndiaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever