NEW DELHI: A study conducted by Coronavirus Vaccine-induced Antibody Titre (COVAT) has found that seropositivity rates and median anti-spike antibody titre was significantly higher in Astra Zeneca’s Covishield as compared to Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.
The study was conducted on health workers in India wh have received both doses of either of the two COVID vaccines which were given approval in January 2021. The research was done on 515 health care workers, out of which 95.0 per cent showed seropositivity after two doses of both vaccines. Notably, both Covishield and Covaxin elicited a good immune response after two doses. “Amongst the 552 HCW (325 Male, 227 Female), 456 and 96 received the first dose of Covishield and Covaxin respectively. Overall, 79.3 per cent showed seropositivity after the first dose. Responder rate and median (IQR) rise in anti-spike antibody were significantly higher in Covishield vs. Covaxin recipient (86.8 vs. 43.8 per cent; 61.5 vs. 6 AU/ml; both p<0.001),” the study said. “This ongoing, Pan-India, Cross-sectional, Coronavirus Vaccine-induced Antibody Titre (COVAT) study is being conducted amongst HCW, with or without past history of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
SARS-CoV-2 anti-spike binding antibody is being assessed quantitatively at four timepoints between 21 days or more after the first dose to 6 months after the second dose,” the study further said. Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin and Oxford-Astra Zeneca’s Covishield which s being manufactured by Serum Institute of India (India) was given the approval of emergency use authorisation by DCGI-CDSCO in January 2021. Covaxin, India’s indigenous COVID-19 vaccine by Bharat Biotech is developed in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) – National Institute of Virology (NIV). The vaccine is developed using Whole-Virion Inactivated Vero Cell derived platform technology.
The Serum Institute is providing a Covishield dose for Rs 300 to the state governments and Rs 600 to private hospitals. The Bharat Biotech has fixed the price of a Covaxin dose at Rs 400 for states and Rs 1200 for private markets.
