Covaxin Demonstrates Protection Against New Covid-19 Variants: Report

Peer-review publication, Clinical Infectious Diseases, has noted that Covaxin demonstrates protection against the new Covid-19 variants.

Bharat Biotech's Covaxin retained neutralising activity against emerging variants of coronavirus, as per a new study.

A study published by Clinical Infectious Diseases found that vaccination with Covaxin produced neutralising titres against all key emerging variants tested including B.1.617 and B.1.1.7, first identified in India and the UK, respectively.

A modest reduction in neutralisation by a factor of 1.95 was observed against the B.1.617 variant compared to the vaccine variant (D614G).

Despite this reduction, neutralising titre levels with B.1.617 remain above levels expected to be protective.

No difference in neutralisation between B.1.1.7 first identified in the UK and vaccine strain was observed. The study was conducted in collaboration with National Institute of Virology and Indian Council of Medical Research.

Earlier, a study by the ICMR reported that Covaxin is effective against multiple variants of the Covid-causing SARS-CoV-2 virus, including the double mutant strain found in India and other countries.

The Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV) had successfully isolated and cultured multiple variants of concern of SARS-CoV-2 virus including the variants originating from the United Kingdom, South Africa, and Brazil.

The NIV has demonstrated the neutralization potential of the Covaxin against the variants from Brazil and the UK in a study published in the Journal of Travel Medicine in March.

With IANS Inputs