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A recent study by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has found that mixing of vaccine doses gives better results than two doses of the same vaccine.
According to its report released on Sunday, vaccination with a combination of an adenovirus vector platform-based vaccine, followed by an inactivated whole virus vaccine, was not only safe but also gave better immunogenicity. It further added that such a combination of vaccine doses will also address the challenge of vaccine shortage and address the hesitancy in people’s minds that could have a genesis in programmatic errors, especially in settings where multiple Covid vaccines are being used.
“Overall, the study demonstrates that immunisation with a heterologous combination of an adenovirus vector platform-based vaccine followed by an inactivated whole virus vaccine is safe and elicits better immunogenicity than two doses of homologous vaccination, using the same vaccine,” the report said, while further adding that the finding will have important implications for the Covid 19 vaccination programme wherein heterologous immunisation will pave the way for induction of improved and better protection against variant strains of SARS-CoV-2.
The study was conducted on 98 individuals having completed a period of two weeks or more after the second dose was included. The study duration was from May to June 2021. Participants were recruited in three cohorts -- 18 individuals from Uttar Pradesh, who had inadvertently received the first dose of Covishield and a second dose of Covaxin; 40 who had received both doses of Covishield; and the remaining were from the Covaxin group.
It is to be noted that the pre-print report titled ‘Serendipitous Covid 19 vaccine-mix in Uttar Pradesh, India: Safety and Immunogenicity Assessment of a Heterologous Regime,’ has not been certified by peer review and should not be used to guide clinical practice, ICMR said.
It may be recalled that the Niti Aayog-Member (Health), Dr VK Paul, had earlier said “theoretically there should not be any problem in mixing two vaccines as the second dose in such a case may work as a booster shot. But as the government started its vaccination drive on January 16, it asked health workers to take care to ensure that the beneficiaries receive both doses of the same vaccine.”
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