In a few weeks, India may start testing the feasibility and effectiveness of administering mixed vaccine doses, said Dr N K Arora, Chairman of the Covid-19 working group under the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI). Two different vaccines will be mixed to test the immune response to the virus. This will be done using vaccines that are already available in the country and those that are in the pipeline as well.
As per reports, permutations and combinations of eight vaccines will be clinically tested as a collaboration between bodies like the ICMR and the companies producing the vaccines. These eight vaccines include those which have already received approval in India, that is Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik V.
The tests will observe if vaccines based on different platforms can be administered together and which ones should be administered as the first or second doses.
“Both the vaccines individually would be safe, but the focus is also to see if they are safe together… These vaccines are produced in different platforms and we don’t want them to create difficulty and create complications, so every vaccine will probably not be possible to mix and match,” Dr N K Arora said.
