“So, despite the real difficulty that we’re seeing in India, vaccination could be a very, very important antidote against this,” Dr Fauci was quoted as telling reporters.
Chief Medical Adviser to the US President– Anthony Fauci– on Tuesday, said Covaxin, India’s home-grown Covid vaccine produced by Bharat Biotech, has been found to neutralise the B.1.617 variant or the Indian double mutant strain.
According to news agency PTI, Dr Fauci said: “This is something where we’re still gaining data on a daily basis. But the most recent data, was looking at convalescent Sera of COVID-19 cases and people who received the vaccine used in India, the Covaxin. It was found to neutralise the 617 variant.”
“So, despite the real difficulty that we’re seeing in India, vaccination could be a very, very important antidote against this,” Dr Fauci was quoted as telling reporters.
Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, in partnership with National Institute of Virology and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), has developed the Covaxin and was approved for emergency use on January 3 while still in clinical trial.
As per ICMR, trial results later showed the vaccine has an efficacy of 78 per cent.
Mostly found in Covid cases in Maharashtra and Delhi, the B.1.617 variant has three new spike protein mutations. It is suspected that this variant can be behind the massive surge in Covid-19 cases across the country.
Covaxin uses dead viruses and works by teaching the immune system to make antibodies against the coronavirus. When Covaxin is administered, immune cells recognise the dead virus, prompting the immune system to make antibodies to fight the coronavirus.
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