Mix & match of Covaxin, Covishield elicits 4 times antibody response: Study

Hyderabad: Mixing of COVID-19 vaccines Covaxin and Covishield as first and second doses or vice versa was found to be four times effective, a study by city-based AIG Hospitals along with a team of researchers from the Asian Healthcare Foundation has said.

The study was conducted to determine the safety profile of mixing Covishied and Covaxin along with checking the antibody response, a press release from AIG said on Monday.

The most important finding of the study was that the Spike-protein neutralizing antibodies found in the mixed vaccine groups were significantly higher than the same-vaccine groups, D Nageshwar Reddy, chairman of AIG Hospitals said.

"Spike-protein neutralizing antibodies are the ones which kill the virus and reduce the overall infectivity. We found that when the first and second doses are of different vaccines, the Spike-protein antibody response is four times higher compared to two-dose of the same vaccine," Reddy, who is also among the researchers involved in the study, said.

The study results show that mixing of COVID-19 vaccines (Covishield and Covaxin) provide a higher antibody response and is safe as well. Furthermore, AIG Hospitals has shared the data from the study with the ICMR (Indian Council for Medical Research) to be considered as a reference study while deciding on the prevention doses starting January 10.