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Karnataka
Good Antibodies Found In 78% Participants After Both Doses Of Covishield: Study
|The study was conducted by the Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Research, Bengaluru, on 140 healthcare staff in the second week of March, after four weeks of them being inoculated with both the doses.
A study conducted on health workers who were vaccinated with both the doses of Covishield has revealed that 78 percent of the recipients developed a good amount of antibodies.
The study was conducted by the Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Research, Bengaluru, on 140 healthcare staff in the second week of March after four weeks of them being inoculated with both doses, reported The New Indian Express.
Dr Manjunath CN, director of the institute who also led the study, said that the first dose of Serum Institute of India's Covishied vaccine triggers an immune response. Meanwhile, the immune response gets boosted with the second dose.
He said that the participants received their first jab in January and the second dose in the last week of February. The antibody test was done on them after a month of completing the vaccination process. He added that underlying health conditions of the health care workers were also taken into consideration during the study.
"We noticed that the antibodies they had developed after a four-week gap had prevented them from even getting reinfected," Dr Manjunath said.
The four-week gap between both the doses was according to the earlier announced directions by the government. Recently, it revised the guidelines to extend the period to 12-16 weeks. The doctor labeled it as a scientific decision and hinted at the presence of evidence when antibody generation will be higher with an increased gap.
"We intend to do another study soon to check if the antibody levels, when compared to the earlier study, is high or low after a gap of eight weeks in some of the frontline workers who have taken the jab later in February or March," he added.
The government, in a statement, had said that the decision to extend the gap between two doses of Covishield has been taken based on 'available real-life experience', especially from the United Kingdom.
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