Boost for Booster: The Hindu Editorial on Corbevax as a Booster Dose

Indian drug regulator with greenlighting Corbevax as a Booster Dose for All Adults over 18 years of age who have received two doses of Covishield or Covaxin as part of a primary vaccination, an odd booster shot One step closer to being administered to the people. Although booster shots have been started with health care and frontline workers since January 10, and over 60 people with comorbidities, India is using the same vaccine for both the primary vaccination and the booster (homologous boosting). In clinical trials, a booster dose different from the vaccine used for primary vaccination – technically called heterologous boosting – produced a higher immune response than the same vaccine for primary and booster vaccinations. Is. A trial by Christian Medical College, Vellore found the same result. As expected, BioE’s phase-3 heterologous booster vaccine trial using Corbevax produced a significantly higher immune response in people who received either Covaxin or two doses of Covishield. But the control group did not receive a homogenous booster shot, but only a placebo, the trial failed to bring out enhanced immune responses using Corbevax as a heterogeneous booster. Any vaccine administered as a booster – months after the primary vaccination – regardless of being homozygous or heterozygous, will, by default, increase the immune response. Thus the trial has only shown that Corbevax as a heterologous booster enhances the immune response, but failed to show that heterologous boosting with this vaccine produces a better immune response than homologous boosting with CoviShield or Covaxin. Is. It is even more surprising that the booster trial used a placebo for the control arm because of the use of the comparator vaccine CoviShield for the control group in a phase-3 clinical trial to study the immunogenicity of Corbevax for primary vaccination. it was done.

With Corbevax being approved as a heterogeneous booster based on a poorly designed heterogeneous booster test, the drug regulator is soon expected to greenlight Covishield and Covaxin as heterogeneous boosters based on the results of the CMC Vellore trial. can be expected. In particular the trial clearly demonstrated the benefits of heterogeneous growth compared to the use of the same vaccine for primary vaccination and promotion. While the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) may without delay approve Corbevax as a heterogeneous booster shot, it remains to be seen whether it approves it for all adults above the age of 18. . The government is unlikely to sideline the expert group as of mid-March, given the NTAGI’s more likely approval of Corbevax as an asymptomatic booster. Because booster shots have been introduced for all adults over the age of 18, the government should not rush to approve Corbevax without NTAGI approval.