The homegrown coronavirus vaccine developed by Hyderabad based pharma company Bharat Biotech - COVAXIN has produced neutralising titres meaning the concentration of an antibody in an organism against all the emerging variants of Covid that has been tested, including the B.1.617 and B.1.1.7 strains that were detected in India and the UK, the vaccine maker stated on Sunday.
A moderate reduction in neutralisation by a factor of 1.95 was witnessed against the B.1.617 variant compared to the vaccine variant (D614G), however, despite this decrease, the neutralizing concentration levels with B.1.617 remains above the levels of expected protection it can provide.
"No difference in neutralization between B.1.1.7 (first found in the UK) and vaccine strain (D614G) was observed," Bharat Biotech added.
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Supporting this claim, Bharat Biotech’s joint managing director Suchitra Ella shared a study that was published in the peer-reviewed medical journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. These findings were carried out in collaboration with the National Institute of Virology - India Council of Medical Research.
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India has given nod to three vaccines to inoculate its population amid the largest vaccination drive and COVAXIN is amongst those three vaccines. Apart from Covaxin, Covishield and Russia’s Sputnik V are employed for immunizing people. India is running short of vaccines as it has been opened for all age groups, meanwhile, the vaccine makers are ramping up their production capacity to meet the growing demand for vaccines. So far a total of 18,22,20,164 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered across the country, the Union Health Ministry has stated.