Mixing of vaccines could tackle shortage but more studies needed, says Dr Kang

Kang is a professor at the Christian Medical College (CMC) which has recently received the Subject Expert Committee’s permission to start trials for mixing of Covishield and Covaxin.

Dr Gagandeep Kang on Thursday said that the vaccine shortage could be tackled if Covid-19 vaccines doses are mixed in India. The microbiologist and virologist while speaking to news agency ANI said that several studies are being conducted on this across the world.

Kang pointed out that studies on mixing viral vector vaccines and mRNA vaccines have shown that the immune system becomes better if vaccines are mixed. (Reuters)

Kang is a professor at the Christian Medical College (CMC) which has recently received the Subject Expert Committee’s permission to start trials for mixing of Covishield and Covaxin. She also pointed out that studies on mixing viral vector vaccines and mRNA vaccines have shown that the immune system becomes better if vaccines are mixed. Recently, Sputnik V and AstraZeneca vaccines were administered to patients with no cases showing any serious illness.

“The most important thing is that we have been seeing vaccine shortages and people having to wait at vaccination centres, disappointed when they don’t get the second dose. The advantage is knowing that you can give any vaccine. It is good for the programme and good for people. It doesn’t matter which vaccine you get, you know that your chances of being protected are very high,” Kang said while speaking to news agency ANI.

Kang said that along with the CMC other institutions should also begin research on this issue since more studies are needed to understand if mixing of vaccines can be effective in battling Covid-19.

Kang also suggested that schools should be opened in a phased manner with vaccinated teachers and staff but also said that Covid-19 preventative measures should be followed. She said that children with comorbidities should be vaccinated as well.

Speaking of a probable third wave, Kang said that the severity of it will depend on the variants and strains. “I think a lot depends on whether the wave is driven by variants, or driven by strains. If it's driven by variants then it becomes very difficult to predict what the numbers are likely to be,” Kang said.

(with inputs from ANI)