Results provide evidence for effectiveness for Covaxin in real life settings: Bharat Biotech

Soon after the effectiveness assessment results of Covaxin were released, manufacturer Bharat Biotech released a statement which said that the study published in the Lancet provides 'evidence for effectiveness.’ 

Covaxin was one of the few vaccines available in India and was administered since the beginning of the vaccine drive. Developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, this vaccine is also considered to be country’s first indigenous vaccine against the coronavirus. Sharing a statement about the effectiveness result, the firm said, “Bharat Biotech commends the investigators from AIIMS on the BBV152 study published in Lancet Infectious Diseases. These results provide evidence for effectiveness for Covaxin in real-life settings. An effectiveness result of 50 per cent achieved during the peak Covid-19 Delta variant wave in India, in a high-risk study population of physicians and health care workers, in a health-related environment, and who are challenged repeatedly with high viral loads, provides insights into the efficacy and effectiveness of Covaxin.”

However, the results published from the recent study are contradictory to the ones submitted by Bharat Biotech, which post the Phase 3 clinical trials informed that the vaccine has shown 77.8 per cent effectiveness against symptomatic Covid-19. Similar results were also published in the journal regarding COVID symptomatic infections. Another study conducted with over 2700 hospital workers at Delhi-based AIIMS showed over 65 per cent efficacy against the Delta Variant of COVID-19. Sharing more about the same, officials from Bharat Biotech, in the statement informed, “These results compare well with the 65.2 per cent efficacy obtained during the controlled Phase 3 clinical trials of Covaxin conducted among the general population.”

During the second COVID wave in April-May 2021, experts informed that the Delta COVID variant was the dominant strain and accounted for approximately 80 per cent of all cases in India. 

Covaxin was developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the ICMR, and after a long wait, the World Health Organisation (WHO) granted the Emergency Use Listing (EUL). Currently, it is being administered in India, with a gap of 28 days between two doses.