Anurag Agrawal, one of the directors of the government's genome sequencing monitoring agency INSACOG (Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium), in a tweet, has vouched for the efficacy of Covovax vaccine, instead of Covishield, as booster against the threat of new variant Omicron.
He shared in a tweet,
Very welcome development as we search for the right booster combination. It is produced as Covovax in India by @SerumInstIndia and contains spike proteins assembled on a lipid nanoparticle. It induces a strong immune response and has an excellent safety profile. https://t.co/DpbOiptlqv
— Anurag Agrawal (@AnuragAgrawalMD) December 18, 2021
WHO has recently given emergency approval for this vaccine manufactured by Novavax Inc and manufactured under licence by the Serum Institute of India (SII). It is a recombinant protein vaccine that uses spike proteins to teach the body how to develop immunity against the novel coronavirus.
Agrawal says that WHO’s approval for Covovax is a positive sign for India. The authorities must promptly prepare for dissemination of Covovax as a booster.
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He further added that Covovax, based on ancestral spike protein may not be directly very effective against Omicron since its efficacy against Beta was around 50 per cent. It will however be better than a third dose AstraZeneca/Covishield as a booster.
As studied during the trials, the immune boost after two doses of AZ/Covishield was far better for Covovax than inactivated virus vaccine in COV-BOOST. Thus, showing promise as a booster.
The Phase III trials for this vaccine were launched in the United Kingdom in September 2020, where it reached an efficacy of 96 per cent against the original coronavirus variant. The company is also developing a vaccine against new variants of Covid-19.
He did, however, clarify that further clinical studies are required to understand how much resistance Novovax provides against the Omicron variant.
