A clinical trial proposal on mixing two different vaccine doses is yet to get the Drugs Controller General of India’s approval, a Health Ministry source said.
The proposal seeks to study the interchangeability of doses between Bharat Biotech’s Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin and that of Serum Institute of India’s Covishield.
“A medical college, in collaboration with the vaccine manufacturers has submitted a proposal to the DCGI for clinical trials of combination of vaccine doses. After the DCGI gives its nod, it will be registered with the Clinical Trials Registry India (CTRI), giving all the details about the location, sample and duration of study among others,” the source told
It may be recalled that some time back, VK Paul, Niti Aayog Member-Health had said that mixing of vaccine doses is plausible but there needs to be more studies on this. “Scientifically there should not be any problem,” he had said. Meanwhile, Dr Randeep Guleria, Head of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) had said that initial studies suggest that it can be an option.
“More data is required to check the feasibility of mixing vaccine doses. A large number of vaccines may be available in the future because of this.Initial studies suggest it may be an option in the future," Guleria had said.