Tag: COVISHIELD

Delta Variant: No Antibodies in 16% after Second Dose of Covishield, Says Study

Neutralising antibodies against the Delta variant (B1.617.2) were not observed in 58.1% of serum samples from those given one shot of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine produced in India as Covishield, according to a yet-to-be peer reviewed study by researchers from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

After two doses, the neutralising antibodies could not be detected in 16.1% of the samples, the study found. Additionally, the researchers saw that a prior infection along with vaccination produced much higher titres of neutralising antibodies.

‘Not observed is not equivalent to not present.

The levels of neutralising antibodies could be significantly low that it did not get detected, but it may still be there and protect the person against infection and severe disease. , there would be some cell mediated protective immunity as well that can protect against infection and severe disease,’ said Dr T Jacob John, former head of the department of microbiology at Christian Medical College-Vellore.

The titres of the neutralising antibodies – that specifically target the Sars-CoV-2 virus and kill it or prevent it from entering human cells – were also lower against the Delta variant as compared to the B1 variant that led to the first wave of infections in India. As compared to B1, the neutralising antibody titres against the Delta variant were 78% less in those who received one shot, 69% in those who received two shots, 66% in those who had the infection and received one shot, and 38% in those who had the infection and received both shots.

What the study means for India’s vaccination drive is that some might require an additional booster shot of Covishield while those who have had the infection may require just one.

‘Assuming that the serum used for the study was from healthy individuals, the proportion of individuals with unobserved levels of neutralising antibodies will be higher among those who are old, comorbid, have chronic diseases as their immune response is lower. What this means is that men (women produce higher levels of antibodies) over the age of 65 years, those with diabetes, hypertension, chronic heart, lung, kidney diseases, or who are undergoing treatment for cancer should be given a third dose,’ said Dr Jacob John.

He added, ‘On the other hand, one dose is more than enough for an immune response in those who have had the infection.’

(The article is posted from The Hindustan Times without any modification.)

India Made Covishield Vaccine Gets ‘Green Pass’ in Switzerland, 7 Other EU Nations

Amidst multiple setbacks from European drug regulators, Covishield vaccine, in a significant boost, has been accepted by Switzerland drug regulator along with seven other European countries. According to sources quoted by news agency ANI, apart from Switzerland, the other countries which have approved Covishield include Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, and Spain among others. Beneficiaries who have been administered by the Covishield vaccine will now be eligible to seek a green pass to visit these countries, top diplomatic sources involved in the process told news agency ANI.

The diplomatic sources said that the countries have accepted low-cost vaccine Covishield and agreed to include people administered with the vaccine on the list of eligible travellers.

With Covid-19 vaccination drive progressing at a steady pace in several countries, countries are opening up their borders for individuals who have been vaccinated by clinically certified Coronavirus vaccines.

In another positive signal for Covishield beneficiaries, the German embassy in a crucial statement hinted at granting approval to Covishield vaccine. The embassy said that versions of the EU-approved vaccines including licensed or original production are equivalent to already approved vaccines for proof of vaccine protection.

In a major setback to crores of beneficiaries of Covishield vaccine and manufacturer Serum Institute of India, the European Union had not approved Covishield vaccine manufactured in India. The drug regulator of the European Union said that the Indian manufactured version of AstraZeneca and Oxford University’s Coronavirus vaccine might have developed differences from the original vaccine due to change in the manufacturing condition in different settings.

The EU drug regulator has only approved four Coronavirus vaccines namely- Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. However, the EU drug regulator had said that individual countries of the European Union are free to take a call on issuing green passes to travellers vaccinated with Covishield vaccine.

(The article is posted from Financial Express without any modification.)

Centre issues SOPs for vaccination of persons undertaking international travel

On several representations received by Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare for allowing administration of second dose of Covishield for such persons who have only taken first dose of Covishield and are seeking to undertake international travel for educational purposes or employment opportunities or as part of India’s contingent for Tokyo Olympic games, but whose planned travel dates fall prior to completion of the currently mandated minimum interval of 84 days from the date of first dose, Union Health Ministry has written to States/UTs to facilitate vaccination of such persons.

The Ministry has issued SOPs in this regard which have been conveyed to States/UTs. States/UTs have been advised to widely publicize and take all necessary measures to immediately implement these SOPs. The SOPs are as follows:

At present, based on the recommendations by National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 (NEGVAC), the schedule of Covishield vaccine under National Covid-19 Vaccination Strategy is to administer the 2nd dose at 12-16 weeks interval (i.e. after 84 days), after administration of 1st dose. With a view to providing full coverage of vaccination and facilitating international travel for such genuine reasons, the following procedure shall be followed for administration of second dose of Covishield vaccine for such beneficiaries.

This special dispensation will be available to —

  1. Students who have to undertake foreign travel for the purposes of education.
  2. Persons who have to take up jobs in foreign countries
  3. Athletes, Sportspersons and accompanying staff of Indian contingent attending International Olympic Games be held in Tokyo

States/UT governments shall designate a competent authority in each district for according permission for such administration of second dose of Covishield. The competent authority shall check the following before according a permission for administration of second dose before the period of 84 days after date of first dose —

  1. Whether a period of 28 days has elapsed after the date of first dose.
  2. Genuineness of the purpose of travel based on documents related to —
    1. Admission Offers or associated formal communications for the education.
    2. Whether a person is already studying at a foreign educational institution and has to return to that institution to continue their education.
    3. Interview calls for a job or offer letters for taking up employment.
    4. Nomination to participate in the Tokyo Olympic games.
  3. It is advised that vaccination may be availed in cases through Passport which is one of the permissible ID documents as per the current guidelines so that the passport number is printed in the Certificate. If a Passport was not used at the time of administration of first dose, the details of the photo ID Card used for vaccination will be printed in the vaccination certificate and mention of the Passport in the vaccination certificate is not to be insisted upon. Wherever necessary, the competent authority may issue another certificate linking the vaccination certificate with the passport number of the beneficiary.
  4. This facility shall be available to those who need to undertake international travel for these specified purposes in the period up to 31st August, 2021.
  5. All technical protocols as prescribed in the Guidelines of the Ministry regarding COVID Vaccination Centres and AEFI management etc. shall have been followed.

It is clarified that Covishield, produced by the Serum Institute of India and approved by the DCGI is one of the vaccines by the WHO for use as of 3rd June 2021. The relevant entry is at serial number 4 of the WHO EUL is available at:     https://extranet.who.int/pqweb/sites/default/files/documents/Status%20of%20COVID-19%20Vaccines%20within%20WHO%20EUL-PQ%20evaluation%20process%20-%203%20June%202021.pdf

Mention of vaccine type as “Covishield” is sufficient and no other qualifying entries are required in the vaccination certificates. The CoWIN system will soon provide the facility for administration of 2nd dose in such exceptional cases.

 

 

Aarogya Setu rolls out new feature to update Vaccination Status

As per the press release by PIB, Aarogya Setu has rolled out a feature to update Vaccination Status on the Aarogya Setu App. Here is the step wise explanation of how to update the vaccination status.

How to update Vaccination status for SELF:

Those who are fully Vaccinated will get a Blue Shield on the home page of Aarogya Setu App with double blue ticks on the Aarogya Setu Logo – 14 days after the second dose. This is done after verification of Vaccination Status from the CoWIN portal. Those who have got a single dose will get a single blue border with vaccination status on their home screen along with Aarogya Setu logo with a single tick. With the second dose, the home screen will have a double border and the Aarogya Setu logo will have a double tick. 14 days after the second dose, Aarogya Setu will have a blue shield.

All Aarogya Setu users will get the option to “Update the Vaccination Status“ if they have not taken the revised self-assessment. On taking the self-assessment on Aarogya Setu, those users who have taken at least one dose of COVID19 Vaccine will get the tab of “partially vaccination/vaccinated (unverified)“ on the home screen of Aarogya Setu. This is  based  on the declaration of vaccination status given by the user during the self-assessment. The unverified status becomes verified after an OTP based check from the CoWIN backend. Vaccination status can be updated through the mobile number used for CoWIN registration. This would make easy checking of Vaccination Status possible for travel and access to various premises.

Case  – 1:

Initial Status (Default) for users who have not taken the updated self  assessment

 

Case- 2

For the users who have taken the updated Self-Assessment

  1. As per self-assessment, if the user has taken the first dose, then Single Blue border will appear and status will be “Partially Vaccinated (Unverified). In this case, Aarogya Setu Icon will be of Grey Shade.
  2. As per self-assessment, if the user has taken the second dose also, then Double Blue border will appear and status will be “Vaccinated (unverified)”. In this case also, Aarogya Setu Icon will be of Grey Shade.

 Remember, If the user has taken the first dose, then after verification, “(Unverified)” text will be removed and the Grey Shade Icon will show the Aarogya Setu Colors.

If user has taken one dose

On clicking “ > “  button, user will get the Vaccination details as below :

Case 3

When, user becomes eligible for Dose 2 (4 weeks for COVAXIN and 12 weeks for COVISHIELD), the Vaccination Details screen will show “Verify 2nd Dose”

Case -4

If the user has already taken a second dose at the time of verification OR When the user takes his second dose and updates the same in Aarogya Setu, the screen will show “Vaccinated”. Vaccination details will appear and users can download the certificate also.

Case – 5: Final Status

After 14 days of the second dose of the vaccine, a complete blue screen will appear and status will be as “You are Vaccinated”.  Users can click on “View Details” and download the final certificate.

Vaccination Verification Flow

For case 1 and case 2, to update or remove the “unverified” tab, User will need to validate his vaccination status from the COWIN platform and go through the COWIN OTP Flow for verification.

On clicking the tab “Partially Vaccinated (unverified) / vaccinated (unverified) “, following process will be followed:

  1. Login by using a registered mobile number, if you have registered on COWIN using a different mobile number then update.
  2. Click on “Proceed to verify” , an OTP will be sent on the registered mobile number. The OTP will be valid for 10 minutes.
  3. Enter OTP and click, Proceed to Verify.
  4. Vaccinated individuals linked with the mobile number details will appear, Click Proceed.
  5. Details of individual, Name, Beneficiary ID, Gender, Year of Birth, Status, Vaccine, Vaccination date will be reflected on screen.
  6. Once, user clicks on “Confirm”, the profile gets updated in Aarogya Setu and vaccination details are saved and the status changes to “Partially Vaccinated /Vaccinated “as the case maybe for each user. Partially vaccinated tab will be displayed for users who have taken only the first dose and Vaccinated will be for users who have taken both the doses.

 

How to update Vaccination Status of those registered on CoWIN with another number

CoWIN allows one registered users to register upto 4 people for Vaccination. This is being used by people for registering their family, friends and those who don’t have a mobile phone or are not able to register or book slots on CoWIN on their own.

The Vaccination status for such users on Aarogya Setu will be updated by checking the Vaccination status through the mobile number which is registered on CoWIN.

Such persons will be asked to enter the mobile number registered on CoWIN when they try to verify their vaccination status. On entering, an OTP will be sent to the CoWIN registered mobile number. This OTP will need to be entered by the person verifying his Vaccination status and then he will be able to select his profile from the people linked to the CoWIN registered number. On selection of the correct profile, the Vaccination status will be confirmed from the CoWIN backend and the same will be updated on the Aarogya Setu app.

The process is explained below pictorially:

 

 

 

Serum Institute of India (SII) reduces price of COVID-19 vaccine COVISHILED from Rs 400 to Rs 300

The Serum Institute of India has reduced the price of its COVID vaccine ‘ COVISHIELD’ from Rs 400 to Rs 300 per dose for states, as announced by CEO Adar Poonawala. Mr. Poonawala tweeted, “ As a philanthropic gesture on behalf of Serum Institute of India, I hereby reduce the price to the states from Rs 400 to Rs 300 per dose, effective immediately, this will save thousands of crores of state funds going forward. This will enable more vaccinations and save countless lives”.