Covaxin And Covishield- What To Know About?

Covaxin And Covishield- What To Know About?

Difference Between Covaxin And Covishield

With the approval of India to use Covaxin and Covishield as the emergency vaccines to combat covid-19 let us look into what is the difference between Covaxin and Covishield.


What Is Covaxin?

COVAXIN is a COVID-19 vaccine developed and manufactured by India-based pharmaceutical company-Bharat Biotech. Bharat Biotech developed this inactivated vaccine in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) - National Institute of Virology (NIV).

It has been built by making use of Whole-Virion Inactivated Vero Cell developed platform technology.


Key characteristics

The vaccine also has immune-potentiators (vaccine adjuvants). These adjuvants boost and increase immunogenicity.

  • It’s given in 2 doses within a 28 days interval.
  • The vaccine comes with no reconstitution necessity and no sub-zero storage.
  • It is ready-to-use-liquid in multiple-dose bottles, balanced at 2-8oC.
  • DCGI approved the vaccine for Phase I & II Human Clinical Trials in July 2020.

As part of phase 3 multicenter trial, the 1st dosage of vaccination has been administered to all the members and at present 2nd dosage of either placebo/vaccine is being administered.

The provisional efficacy assessment will be out by the end of Feb 2021.

The vaccine has received emergency restricted usage approval in India by DCGI-CDSCO on 3rd Jan 2021.


How Does Covaxin Work?

As is known, inactivated vaccines don’t imitate and are thus unlikely to revert and trigger pathological effects. They have the deceased virus, which doesn't afflict people however, they can direct the immune system to produce a protective effect against infections. Since Covaxin is also an inactivated vaccine it follows the same process.


Myths About Covaxin

The biggest myth surrounding Covaxin is it causes infertility in both genders. However, this myth has been dispelled by ICMR. Male impotency, the other myth has also been not approved by ICMR.

The myth that’s not related to health is the idea that there is no need to wear a mask following this vaccine. However, the health ministry rubbished the same as a myth and stressed the importance of wearing a mask despite getting vaccinated.


What Is Covishield?

Covishield is the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India. Same like Covaxin even Covishield has received the Indian government’s approval for emergency use.

The vaccine is produced from a diminished form of a common cold virus (called adenovirus) from chimpanzees. It has been altered to look more similar to a coronavirus – but it cannot lead to illness.

When it is administered to a patient, it encourages the immune system to begin manufacturing antibodies and prepares it to attack any coronavirus infection.

It is given in 2 doses between 4 and 1 2 weeks gap. It is preserved at temperatures of 2C to 8C. It can be administered in the present hospital setups and thus it is easier to store and also administer.

The company may perform the bridging trial in February in India.


How Effective Is Covishield?

International clinical trials of this vaccine demonstrated that its effectiveness reached 90% when people were provided with a half dose and then a full dose.

However, as of date, the unpublished data shows that a long interval between the 1st dose and the 2nd dose can augment the overall efficacy of it. The vaccine is supported by the phase III trial data from the UK and Brazil.


Difference Between Covaxin And Covishield

Covishield is developed by the Oxford University scientists in collaboration with the pharma firm AstraZeneca whilst Covaxin is developed by Bharath Biotech- an Indian based pharma company.

Covishield is manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII) and the same also looks after the vaccine drive however, SII has no part in the development. Coming to Covaxin it is developed, manufactured, and distributed by the same company-Bharath Biotech.

Covishield vaccine is developed by making use of adenovirus — a virus that’s found in chimpanzees which leads to the common cold in them. On the other hand, Covaxin is developed using dead coronavirus. The latter is an inactivated vaccine while the former isn’t and is a live-attenuated vaccine.

Covaxin's makers haven't stated any effectiveness rate whilst the efficacy of Covishield is staged at above 70%.

The two doses of the Covishield vaccine are given at 4 and 1 2 weeks gap while Covaxin needs a 28 days interval between the 1st and 2nd dose.


Different Types Of Covid-19 Vaccines

There are 4 vaccine types in clinical trials;

  • Whole Virus
  • Protein Subunit
  • Viral Vector and
  • Nucleic Acid (RNA AND DNA).

Below are the top vaccines across all these types that are under trial and are expected to give a final solution to covid-19;

  • Comirnaty
  • Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine
  • CoronaVac
  • Covishield
  • Sputnik V
  • BBIBP-CorV
  • EpiVacCorona
  • Covaxin

As of date, there are 92 countries that are signing up for India's vaccine.

All said and done there is no major difference between Covaxin and Covishield however, till they pass through the final stage of trails it is better to stay safe.

Author:

Sudheendra Reddy

Sudheendra is a passionate blogger for 8 years and holds a Degree in Journalism & Mass Communications. His writings particularly focus on health, medicine, diet & lifestyle. For him, everything that interlinks and relates to health & medical world entices him. His write-ups aim at educating people not by just giving facts but by infusing human touch.