Several questions had been raised by the media and ‘experts’ on the efficacy of Covaxin, India’s own vaccine against Covid-19.
Some experts argued that the newly mutated strains may not be resisted by vaccines, while others pointed out that both the vaccines available for administration in India- Covishield and Covaxin were designed to provide enough coverage to justify the jab.
Clarifying the concerns raised, the ICMR on Wednesday released the results of a study that proves that Covaxin neutralizes multiple variants of SARS-CoV-2 including the double mutant strain.
ICMR shared the update through a tweet which also entails an infographic detailing the results of the study.
ICMR study shows #COVAXIN neutralises against multiple variants of SARS-CoV-2 and effectively neutralises the double mutant strain as well. @MoHFW_INDIA @DeptHealthRes #IndiaFightsCOVID19 #LargestVaccineDrive pic.twitter.com/syv5T8eHuR
— ICMR (@ICMRDELHI) April 21, 2021
The summary states:
- ICMR-NIV has successfully isolated and cultured multiple variants of SARS-Cov-2 virus including the UK, Brazil and South African strain
- ICMR-NIV demonstrated the neutralization potential of the UK and Brazil variant
- ICMR-NIV has been recently successful in isolating and culturing the double mutant variant
The highly infectious double mutant Covid-19 strain is said to be fueling the second wave of coronavirus in India.
Attempts to discredit Covaxin:
The opposition and the liberal gang have missed no opportunity to discredit the efficacy of the homegrown vaccine Covaxin since the days of trial.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had to issue a clarification following criticism by the same group over its plan to release a Coronavirus vaccine by 15 August last year while starting human trials for the same only a month prior. The ICMR in a statement specified that while it aims to expedite clinical trials of COVAXIN, developed in collaboration with Bharat Biotech, all globally accepted norms for vaccine development will be followed. They further clarified that it only aims to cut red tape related to the trial for the Coronavirus vaccine, and not to bypass any clinically necessary step.
Covaxin is developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech Ltd, in collaboration with ICMR.
