Even as the government flatly denies that its decision to increase the Covishield dose interval to 12-16 weeks is not due to vaccine shortage and is instead based on real-world data, there is no such real-world data to support its decision while it is common knowledge that acute shortage of vaccines is leading to a … Continue reading I would be reluctant to change Covishield dose interval at a time when we still have intense transmission: Gagandeep Kang
UK variant
Covaxin offers protection against double mutant (B.1.617) variant
A study has found that people who have been vaccinated with Covaxin have protection against the double mutant (B.1.617) variant first found in India. The ability of the sera of vaccinated people to neutralise the B.1.617 variant was found to be two-fold less. A study has found that people who have been vaccinated with Covaxin … Continue reading Covaxin offers protection against double mutant (B.1.617) variant
Can Covaxin booster dose prolong protection?
When only two doses of the vaccine are given with a gap of 28 days between doses, the immunity would last for about a year or so. But If a third dose is administered four-five months after the second dose, the immunological principle is that the immunity will be long-lived. In a meeting held on … Continue reading Can Covaxin booster dose prolong protection?
India will add four million more cases by May 1, says Giridhara Babu
A small proportion of the population might have reinfections due to waning antibodies. With newer areas seeing the surge in cases, we cannot rule out older variants spreading to these areas. There may be a dual problem facing the country. The old and newer variants might be in circulation in the uninfected regions in an … Continue reading India will add four million more cases by May 1, says Giridhara Babu
What is driving the second wave in India?
Understanding the infectiousness of the double mutant variant becomes all the more important as noncompliance to COVID-19 appropriate behaviour is uniformly poor across India. Yet, the surge in cases is seen only in 19 States, and mainly in about a dozen States. In the absence of timely results of such studies, which will help policy … Continue reading What is driving the second wave in India?
Proving variant-specific efficacy will be a logistic nightmare, very expensive: Gagandeep Kang
Influenza vaccines are decided based on strains recommended by WHO twice a year for northern and southern hemisphere vaccines. They require animal studies in ferrets and small safety and immunogenicity studies, based on measurement of antibodies. If we had a reasonable antibody measurement which could reflect protection, then we could potentially follow a similar strategy … Continue reading Proving variant-specific efficacy will be a logistic nightmare, very expensive: Gagandeep Kang
ACTREC’s automated tool makes SARS-CoV-2 genome mutation analysis easy
The IPD tool can automatically determine the abundance of SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences, carry out mutation analysis with respect to the Wuhan sequence and finally based on the mutations seen in each sample assign it to the respective phylogenetic clade. Assigning a sample to a phylogenetic clade is based on the complete profile of mutations seen … Continue reading ACTREC’s automated tool makes SARS-CoV-2 genome mutation analysis easy
Oxford vaccine is protective against the U.K. variant, preprint says
The Oxford vaccine appears to protect people against the new, more transmissible variant (B.1.1.7) first found in Britain in end-November and has since become the dominant one in the U.K. The efficacy of the vaccine against the U.K. variant is comparable with the efficacy against other SARS-CoV-2 virus lineages. The Oxford vaccine appears to protect … Continue reading Oxford vaccine is protective against the U.K. variant, preprint says
Study finds Covaxin effective against the UK variant
Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin has been found to neutralise the UK variant with “similar efficiency” as the strain used for making the vaccine and hence “dispels the uncertainty of possible neutralisation escape” following vaccination. Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin has been found to neutralise the UK variant with “similar efficiency” as the strain used for making the vaccine … Continue reading Study finds Covaxin effective against the UK variant
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