Researchers from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), in a paper published in The Lancet Regional Health Southeast Asia on March 6, shared key data on the efficacy of Covishield and Covaxin, the two most widely used COVID-19 vaccines in India. reported the Hindustan Times.
The study, titled “Immunogenicity of SARS-CoV-2 BBV152 (COVAXIN) and ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (COVISHIELD) vaccines in HIV-negative and HIV-positive people in India: a multicenter, non-randomized observational study,” compared users’ immune responses to Covishield compared to Covaxin, he added.
The collaboration is troubling among 11 institutes, adding at least six in Pune. These six included the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune (IISER), National Chemistry Laboratory (NCL), National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS), and Pune Knowledge Group.
The Covishield AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine produced and advertised locally through the Serum Institute of India (SII) was run by Adar Poonawalla in Pune, while Covaxin evolved and was produced through Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech.
Key findings include:
1. Physically Powerful Immune Responses from Covishield: The comprehensive study, conducted from June 2021 to January 2022 and with 691 participants aged 18 to forty-five from Bangalore and Pune, found that Covishield, which uses a viral vector for the delivery of spike proteins, consistently showed a physically more powerful immune system response than Covaxin, An inactivated virus vaccine.
2. Differential immune reactions: Most participants had a near-complete immune reaction to Covishield, while the reaction to Covaxin varied, specifically among those vaccinated before the emergence of the Omicron variant.
3. Antibody and T-cell grades: Covishield induced higher levels of antibodies in seronegative (previously unexposed individuals) and HIV-positive (previously exposed individuals), suggesting a more potent and long-lasting immune response. In addition, Covishield triggered a higher number of T cells than Covaxin, indicating a stronger overall immune response.
4. Protection against variants: Covishield has consistently demonstrated higher levels of antibodies against virus strains, suggesting its potentially impressive coverage against variants such as Omicron.
Significance and future implications
“Follow-up studies on vaccine immunology and immune protection point research were lacking, and comparative studies on those two vaccines are rare. This is one of the few studies that not only examines participants’ immune responses after vaccination, but also takes into account their pre-vaccination immune history,” said Dr. Mangaiarkarasi Asokan, former director of the VISION program and leader of the study.
“While there was a lot of talk about what is the most effective vaccine against the COVID-19 virus, for us in India we only had two vaccines and most citizens were vaccinated in stages,” said Vineeta. Bal, Professor Emeritus of Biology, IISER Pune, about the overall importance of this research.
He added that prior to this study, no comparative data were available on the functionality and efficacy of these vaccines. “Some people only had knowledge about Covaxin, while others had knowledge about Covishield. For the first time, this study has provided us with comparative knowledge of the two vaccines,” he added.
Bal also added that they were pioneers in the generation that conducted this study, which “will now be for immunological evaluation in the future. “
Professor L. L. Shashidhara, director of the NCBS center, called it “the first population-level immunological examination of vaccines” and noted that it is a process in which the virus “continues to spread and evolve. “
“Such studies require serum samples from a variety of subjects representing genetic, geoclimatic, and nutritional diversity, as well as state-of-the-art study design and rigorous statistical methods. No organization can conduct such a study on its own. We are grateful to all our partners and are indebted to Hindustan Unilever for their generosity. “The results of this study and the additional studies we are conducting will make an important contribution to future vaccination strategies as a public health program,” he added.
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