Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin booster dose shown to neutralize Omicron and Delta variants of COVID-19

Making a significant announcement, Bharat Biotech announced on Wednesday that the Covaxin booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine has proven effective against neutralizing both the Omicron and the Delta variant of the virus.

Announcing the news through its official Twitter handle, Bharat Biotech said that the booster shot of Covaxin generated robust neutralizing antibody responses against both Omicron (B.1.529) and Delta (B.1.617.2) using a live virus neutralization assay.

The biotechnology company further said that during studies, 100 percent of the test serum samples showed neutralization of the Delta variant and more than 90 percent of serum samples showed neutralization of the Omicron variant.

The study that drew the above-mentioned conclusions was conducted at Emory University. The study shows that six months after a two-dose BBV152 vaccination series cell-mediated immunity and neutralising antibodies to both homologous (D614G) and heterologous strains (Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Delta plus) persisted above baseline, although the magnitude of the responses had declined.

Mehul Suthar, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Emory Vaccine Center, while talking about the study, said, “Data from this preliminary analysis show individuals receiving a booster dose of Covaxin have a significant immune response to both the Omicron and Delta variants. These findings suggest that a booster dose has the potential to reduce disease severity and hospitalizations.”

Dr. Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Biotech said, “We are in a continuous state of innovation and product development for Covaxin. The positive neutralization responses against the Omicron and Delta variants validate our hypothesis of a multi-epitope vaccine generating both humoral and cell-mediated immune responses.”

Ella further added that Bharat Biotech’s goals of developing a global vaccine against COVID-19 have been achieved with the use of Covaxin as a universal vaccine for adults and children.

Covaxin remains one of the primary vaccines, besides Covishield, that is being administered in the COVID-19 vaccination drive in India. Covaxin has been developed by Bharat Biotech, which is a Hyderabad-based biotechnology company.

Source : DNA India