ICMR, Assam Medical College & Hospital research to mitigate COVID vaccine crisis

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Researchers at the ICMR- Regional Medical Research Centre, NE and Assam Medical College & Hospital (AMCH), Dibrugarh have found that a single dose of Covishield vaccine is sufficient to protect individuals who have recovered from Covid-19 and developed antibodies.

Experts from ICMR and AMCH have covered people between 18 and 75 years of age (both males & females) during their research. They have found that among the seropositive cases (persons suffered from Covid-19 and then recovered by developing antibodies), the second dose of vaccine did not raise the antibody titre any higher compared to the first dose.

The research study involved a total of 121 participants (baseline seropositive 46 and seronegative 75) to find an immune response to the Covishield vaccine in previously infected or uninfected people. It has concluded that "a single dose of Covishield vaccine might be sufficient to induce an effective immune response in subjects with prior SARS-CoV2 infection."

Covishield is one of three vaccines approved for use in India to inoculate against COVID-19, the others being Covaxin – indigenously manufactured by Bharat Biotech – and Russia's Sputnik-V.

Dr Gayatri Gogoi, faculty at AMCH, Dibrugarh who is one of the principal investigators of the research study told The Sentinel that the finding of the research would help injudicious use of vaccines and mitigate the shortage.

"If individuals who recover from the Covid-19 with immunity, can be relieved from the second dose of vaccine, it may save thousands of vaccine doses. The second dose of vaccine for those who previously infected with the virus and recovered by developing antibodies might be a wastage," Dr Gogoi said.

Besides Dr Gogoi, the research was conducted by Biswajyoti Borkakoty (principal investigator), Mandakini Das Sarmah, Chandra Kanta Bhattacharjee and Nargis Bali from the ICMR.

Also Read: COVID vaccination drive: Over 3.46 lakh people jabbed in Assam on Wednesday