Biological E: Trial showed significant enhancement in immune response
Vaccine manufacturer Biological E’s protein sub-unit Covid–19 vaccine Corbevax has become the first to be approved by the country’s drug regulator as a heterologous booster in adults, meaning those who have received Covishield or Covaxin as their first or second dose can take it as a third booster shot.
So far, mixing-and-matching of Covid-19 vaccines was not allowed in India and the third dose had to be the same vaccine used for the first and second dose.
With the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) now approving the heterologous booster, the government will have to take a call on whether it should be included in the country’s free vaccination drive.India has so far administered 193.9 crore doses of vaccine in total, of which 101 crore are first doses, 89 crore second doses, and 3.5 crore precaution doses, according to data from the government’s CoWIN portal.
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