Serum Institute of India CEO Adar Poonwalla has said AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine that has been developed by Serum Institute locally is 90 per cent effective when administered two to three months apart.
“One arm of trials, in which doses were given one month apart, was 60-70 per cent effective. And there was another group of a few thousand patients where they gave a gap of 2-3 months between the two doses. That is where they found the efficacy to be 90 per cent,” Poonawalla said.
“If you look at other vaccines as well, the long gap you keep between the doses, the better their efficacy,” Poonawalla further added.
Notably, the government had increased the gap between the two-dose regimen of Covishield last month after the recommendation of the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration.
Poonwalla further added that immunity kicks in a body one month after the administration of the first dose of covishield.
“We found an excellent response below the age of 50 with one dose. We can say after a month, even with one dose, there is excellent protection, more than even what you find in a Covid-19 recovered patient. About 70 per cent of people are fully protected with one dose, but the second dose is necessary for long-term immunity protection,” he said.
“However, even after the second dose, everybody should wear masks, maintain social distancing till a treatment is available for the disease or till we reach a certain level of herd immunity, which will take a few years,” the Serum Institute chief said.
Poonawalla’s comments are in contrast with The Lancet study that was published earlier this year which has stated that the covishield vaccine has proved an efficacy of up to 70 per cent.
