Covaxin kills double mutant strain: ICMR

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 21

In a major boost to made in India Covid vaccine endeavour, indigenous jab Covaxin has been shown to successfully neutralise the double mutant strain detected in certain parts of the country and the world, besides demonstrating 100 per cent efficacy against severe disease and 70 per cent against asymptomatic infections.

The vaccine was earlier shown to be effective against UK and Brazilian variants and today the Indian Council of Medical Research’s National Institute of Virology announced that Covaxin works against the double mutant as well.

The results were announced along with phase 3 interim data, which reveals Covaxin “demonstrates overall interim clinical efficacy of 78 per cent”.

The efficacy against severe infection is 100 per cent with an impact on reduction in hospitalisations. The efficacy against asymptomatic cases is 70 per cent, which suggests decreased transmission in Covaxin recipients, the report said.

Krishna Ella, CMD, Bharat Biotech, said, “Covaxin has demonstrated an excellent safety record in human clinical trials and in usage under emergency use.”