(Image source from: ft.com)

India has been struggling to bring a boost to the ongoing coronavirus vaccination drive which is happening at a small pace. The Indian government is also in talks with various international vaccination makers to offer emergency usage for the vaccines in the country. Some of the countries are conducting a research to check if it is advisable and safe to take shots of two different vaccines. Several countries are conducting trials but the Indian government said that it will not change the vaccination protocols that are announced. There are also chances for the Indian government to change its mind if the trials will end up successful.

Some countries are allowing mix and match vaccinations in the case of emergency after early trials said that the process is safe. All the vaccinations except Johnson and Johnson need two doses of vaccination shots to be taken. The first dose is taken to boost up the immune system to recognize the virus while the second dose boosts the recognition and it will respond for the virus. Mixing two different doses is called heterologous prime boost The trials are happening but experts say that the results would be better if the trials are conducted on larger population of humans. A study by Oxford in the United Kingdom found that mixing the vaccines Covishield and Pfizer is safe. The tests are conducted on more than 800 volunteers.

Some of the experts are concerned if the mixing vaccines can better the immune system of the human body and face the new variants in the near future. Countries like the United Kingdom, France and Germany allowed combining vaccinations. A better clarity is expected very soon.

By Siva Kumar