People who have had Covid-19 infection are able to generate the same level of antibodies with a single dose of Covaxin as those with both the doses but un-infected, a recent study by the Indian Council of Medical Research has shown.

The study was done on 114 vaccine recipients, who were mainly healthcare and frontline workers, with a mean age of 35 years, and 62 per cent being male. Of these, 30 had had confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection. For the antibody measurement, blood samples were collected on Day 0 (before vaccination), after 28 days (after first dose) and after 56 days (after both the doses). These samples were sent to the immunology laboratory of ICMR’s National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis, Chennai, for analysis.

“Overall, a good vaccine-induced antibody response was seen in SAR-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 said.

“Our results on a varied group of healthcare professionals and frontline workers lend support to previous studies that increased levels of SARS-CoV-2 binding and neutralising antibodies are present after a single vaccine dose in previously infected individuals and are comparable to the levels seen after two doses in those without prior infection,” it added.

Lokesh Sharma, a senior scientist at ICMR, told BusinessLine that it was a pilot done on a small sample set. He said that if it's proven for a large population size, then the problem of vaccine supply will be resolved to a large extent.

“The study was done on a small sample in Chennai. If it is done across 15-16 States and the result is the same, then the problem of vaccine supply can be addressed to a great extent as then those with prior infection would need only one dose, and the remaining can be administered to those who need them more,” Sharma said.

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