A study on mixing Covishield and Covaxin, two of the three Covid-19 vaccines currently available in India, has been approved by the Drugs Controller General Of India (DCGI), Niti Aayog member VK Paul said on Tuesday. The study will be conducted by the Christian Medical College (CMC) in Vellore, Tamil Nadu.
Paul said at a press conference: “Clearance has been granted for a research study by CMC Vellore on mixing vaccine doses. “
On July 29, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization’s (CDSCO) expert panel declared itself in favor of mixing Covishiled and Covaxin to inoculate the Indian population and recommended granting CMC, Vellore, conducting a clinical trial on the effectiveness of mixing the two vaccines.
Meanwhile, the Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV) conducted a study of 18 people who had mistakenly received Covaxin and Covishield in Siddharth Nagar, Uttar Pradesh. The study found that the combination of the two vaccines had better immunogenicity than two doses of the same vaccine.
The study compared the safety and immunogenicity profile of these 18 people to those who received either Covishield or Covaxin for both doses.
The study has not yet been peer-reviewed.
Canada, Thailand, Vietnam, Bhutan, UK, and the US have all allowed mixing different doses of the vaccine. A study in Denmark, combining doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, known as Covishield in India, with Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna’s jab showed that it offered good protection against the Covid-19 virus. A study in Russia showed that the mixture of Sputnik V, also available in India, with the AstraZeneca vaccine, did not have serious side effects.
