Have Been Down With Covid? Single Dose of Covaxin May be as Effective as Double Dose to Uninfected

A single-dose of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin administered to someone who had been infected with Covid-19 previously generates antibody response similar to that provided by two doses of the vaccine in those without any history of the infection, according to a pilot study by ICMR.

A report by Times of India, exclusively quoting the study, says: “This study offers evidence in support of public health oriented and immunologically sustained vaccine strategies. If our preliminary findings are confirmed in large population studies, a single dose of BBV152 vaccine may be recommended to previously confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals so that the naïve individuals could attain the larger benefit of a limited vaccine supply.”

As a part of the study, blood samples were collected from 114 healthcare professionals and frontline workers who received Covaxin at vaccination centres in Chennai from February to May 2021. “Overall, good vaccine-induced antibody responses were seen in prior SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals, except in two, who received a single dose of BBV152 vaccine that was similar to antibody responses seen after a two-dose vaccination course administered to infection-naive individuals,” the study stated.

In what is proving to be a ‘Super August’, India hit the one crore mark on Friday logging its highest ever daily vaccination figure. The figure stood at 1,00,64,032 doses as of 10 pm. Uttar Pradesh led the way by inoculating over 29 lakh beneficiaries in a single day.

With this, August is India’s biggest vaccination month crossing 15 crore doses so far. The last highest was July at 13.45 crore doses.

Health experts and doctors have suggested vaccinating as much population as possible before the third Covid wave hits the country in September as different studies suggest.

The country is also running short of time with a target already set to vaccinate the entire adult population by December 31 as assured by the central government.

A vaccinated population is the only solution to fight the Covid pandemic with no other treatment available for it. Also, studies have shown that only complete Covid vaccination makes an individual capable of fighting the virus effectively.

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