COVAXIN effective against coronavirus strains found in India and UK, reveals study

Vaccination with Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine - COVAXIN, has produced neutralising titres (concentration) against all key emerging variants tested, including the B.1.617 and B.1.1.7, first identified in India and the United Kingdom, the vaccine manufacturer informed on Sunday. 

As per an infographic, a modest reduction in neutralisation by a factor of 1.95 was observed against the B.1.617 variant compared to the vaccine variant (D614G). It however added that despite this reduction, neutralizing titre levels with B.1.617 remain above levels expected to be protective. 

"No difference in neutralization between B.1.1.7 (first found in the UK) and vaccine strain (D614G) was observed," Bharat Biotech added. These findings are from a study conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Virology - India Council of Medical Research.

COVAXIN is one of the three COVID-19 vaccines that are currently available in the country. As per the Union Health Ministry, a total of 18,22,20,164 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered across the country so far. 

In other news, India’s tally of cases of the coronavirus disease reached 24,684,077 as the country logged 3,11,170 cases in the last 24 hours, the Union ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW) dashboard showed on Sunday morning. The daily fatalities due to COVID-19 were recorded at 4,077, taking the overall related death toll to 270,284, the dashboard showed further.

This is for the 7th consecutive day that India has recorded a rise of less than 400,000 daily cases. From May 6-9, the country saw a rise of more than 400,000 fresh infections per day. On these four days, India recorded 412,262, 414,188, 401,078 and 403,738 infections, respectively, in a 24-hour period.