The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved a study on mixing the two prime Covid vaccines used in India's vaccination drive- Covaxin and Covishield. Christian Medical College, Vellore, will undertake this research and related clinical trials.
On July 29, an expert panel of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) recommended that the study be allowed to proceed. A total of 300 healthy participants will take part in the study.
"Permission has been given for a research study on mixing vaccination doses by CMC Vellore (Tamil Nadu)," stated Dr VK Paul, NITI Aayog Member (Health), during a news conference on August 10.
The goal of this study is to analyse whether a person can complete the vaccination course by receiving two different vaccine doses, one of Covishield and one of Covaxin.
"The research aims to assess the feasibility on whether a person can have two separate vaccine shots- one of Covishield and one of Covaxin- to finish the inoculation course," a source explained.
This suggested research would vary from a recent study done by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on a group of vaccination recipients in Uttar Pradesh who were unintentionally administered doses of different Covid-19 vaccines earlier this year.
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According to the ICMR's study (which has yet to be peer-reviewed), mixing jabs of Covaxin and Covishield improved protection against Covid-19.
The research was carried out in UP between May and June. According to the ICMR, the study found that inoculating with a combination of an adenovirus vector platform-based vaccine and an inactivated whole virus vaccine was not only safe but also provided superior protection against coronavirus variants.
"When we compared heterogeneous and homologous groups, we discovered that those who received Covishield first and Covaxin second had a stronger immune response. This is the first research to look at a combination of Adenovector and whole variant vaccines," ICMR's Head of Epidemiology and Communicable Diseases, Dr Samiran Panda, stated.
However, because the study only included 18 people, the top medical authority emphasised that more thorough and in-depth research on the limitations is needed.