The charities and NGOs have been helping the people by providing food, clothing, medical types of equipment, study materials for children, small amounts for the deserving, sanitizing houses, shops, etc. Apart from this, we have also the support of organizations comprising of Keralites abroad who have been contributing hefty sums for the well-being of their people. As a result of this and steps taken by the government including vaccination, we have been able to bring the TPR to about 10 in Kerala and is expected to go down in the coming months. Kerala has been controlling its COVID cases fairly well, whereas many of the states are still struggling with coronavirus cases. The government has also been vaccinating its people for free right from day one when the vaccines were introduced to the market.
It has also purchased vaccines from the manufacturers utilizing state funds and vaccinated its people for free. So the Kerala government has been doing all it can for its people. It is one of the states that have no wastage of vaccine doses and this shows how efficiently the healthcare workers have been utilizing the vaccines. The new study conducted by ICMR has found some interesting results of the mixing of two vaccines. Mixing two doses of different vaccines can result in greater immunity as compared to two doses of a singular vaccine. The study has proved that the mixing of vaccine is not only safe, but it also results in higher immunity against coronavirus. The study conducted by ICMR has pointed out several beneficial results. It has been revealed that immunization is higher when Covid vaccines like covishield and Covaxin are given in two doses.
There are no adverse effects of mixing two vaccine doses. The new study has been titled ‘Serendipitous COVID-19 Vaccine-Mix in Uttar Pradesh, India: Safety and Immunogenicity Assessment of a Heterologous Regime’. The findings of the study have been uploaded to the medRxiv official website. One of the researchers said that two vaccines, a heterologous prime-boost vaccination along with an adenovirus vectored vaccine show a very high level of immunity in the recipient when these vaccines are given in two doses at a distinct time interval. The researchers have said that there is nothing to doubt about it. Nothing to be negative about. Yes, the scenario is depressing and people are dying. But then some are recovering too.
When we do something, we learn from mistakes but focus on achievement. Vaccine productions are being ramped up, they are not as easy as making food. So it will take time. Focus on ourselves, and our family. Keep dodging the infection as much as you can, use this time for some learning, or make yourself better. Surely, we will come out of this someday. If tests show that the vaccines can be mixed whilst retaining safety and effectiveness it doesn’t matter which vaccine shots are given. It will certainly make it much easier to vaccinate the global population, particularly in countries that might struggle with the logistics complications of the mRNA vaccines with their storage requirements. The research on the vaccine of covid-19 has been conducted with a motive to prove the efficacy of mixing two different doses of vaccine.
Vaccines-adenovirus vector platform-based vaccine Covishield and inactivated whole virion BBV152 -Covaxin are used in the study with an approach of homologous prime-boost approach. In the study, 18 individuals have been chosen with their consent. All the volunteers were jabbed with two different doses of vaccine (covishield and Covaxin). The study was conducted in Siddharth Nagar, Uttar Pradesh. Individuals were given covishield as the first dose of the vaccine and after the prescribed gap they were jabbed with the second dose of Covaxin. The vaccination program has been completed the fourth month and there is a lot of hesitancy among people about the vaccine and its mixing. A lot of fake messages circulating on the internet which is causing vaccine hesitancy among people.
The research was conducted in the proper manner in which 18 individuals were given covishield as the first dose of vaccine and Covaxin as the second dose. Along with that 8 individuals were also selected in which half of them were jabbed with both doses of covishield and the other half were jabbed with Covaxin. The duration of the study was somewhere between one to two months. The study was started in May and was completed in June 2021. Experts panel of the research has stated that the immunity was higher in the 18 individuals who were jabbed with two different doses of vaccine. The immunogenicity was much higher in the individuals who have two different vaccines as compared to the people who were given two doses of either Covaxin or covishield.
The study has also revealed that the immunity against the newer variants of coronavirus (Alpha, Beta, and Delta variants) was pretty high in the people who got mixed doses of the vaccine. The government had even set up a war room which comprised of high officials and a medical team where people with symptoms could call and were then redirected to referral centers for further treatment. Other activities like COVID data collection also were performed. This war room is still functional and is still providing support for its citizens. Moreover, COVID first-line treatment centers were opened and are still functional and people with coronavirus are isolated and treated in these facilities with adequate support from the state. The production of oxygen has also been ramped up in the state.
The research also found that there are no side effects of mixing two doses of the coronavirus vaccine. People who were jabbed with the mixed dose of the vaccine haven’t shown any kind of adverse effect of the vaccine. Only a few of them got mild arm pain in the vaccine-injected area. All the recipients are completely safe and healthy and have higher immune cells as compared to the people who have both doses of a single vaccine. There were a lot of conundrums because of the mixing of doses. A lot of countries have opposed this move and eventually researched mixing two different vaccine doses. The study is still in its initial phase and a lot of research and study is still in the queue. The medical research team has stated that mixing two doses is safe but it will be tough to understand citizens about it.
Vaccines experts declare the mixing and of vaccines and the booster a few months ago. The West points out that Chinese vaccines are weak. When the west, later on, declares the mixing of vaccines and boosters, it would be regarded as a great idea. What a silly double standard. Canadians by law should be allowed to have access to the scientific data that shows mixing vaccines is okay. Sadly Canada does not test vaccines and we rely on other countries for this information. As we have no data or information on mixing vaccines we should ask the government for the data. The problem is they will not give it to us. The word ‘Dangerous’ for mixing vaccines is a very strong word to use especially if data is not available.
WHO Chief Scientist twitter message clearly states that Health Regulator/public health or Government of a country can regulate mixing of different vaccines but individuals can’t and it is dangerous, also taking more than 2 doses (self-made decision of public). There are formal clinical trials from the UK, Germany, and Spain that concluded that mixing is fine and does not harm or increase the risk of adverse drug reactions. In Canada, it is permitted to give mixed doses. It is the press that took this statement out of context and confused the public who are already confused. During a pandemic, the press should be more responsible and double-check the statements before publishing rather than sensationalizing them.
It is difficult to say how the coronavirus came into our country, but the way it spreads, through a human, can also come in our country or through something that can come in our country or any other reason. Maybe there is no strong evidence of how this virus came to India because there are many ways of spreading this virus which is the way of spreading in India, it is still could not be learned. We have been using telemedicine to treat people so that they don’t have to visit hospitals. The healthcare workers and the police have been doing a great job during these trying times. We have lost several of our healthcare workers who have succumbed to COVID due to their involvement in treating the public. Despite all this, we have been working as a single unit and will do so until this deadly disease is eradicated.
We are going through a very hard time and we must remain positive protect ourselves and our family against this devil. Vaccination can only be the weapon by which this destructive devil coronavirus can be defeated. We must make aware to the people from every nook and corner of India about the benefits of the vaccine. This is also an opportunity for India to invest in areas where it is vulnerable to avoid such catastrophic possibilities in the future. It may also be an opportunity for India to revisit its requirements for many intermediaries of manufacture and set up possible units in India; These are anyway long shots as the gap may not be possible to be filled in within a short time.