A jab is a jab is a jab

1 min read . Updated: 23 May 2021, 10:37 PM IST Livemint

If ongoing research on using two different vaccines for the first and second doses also happen to show positive results, our vaccination drive would get mix-and-match flexibility too

Sensitivities over whether one gets a vaccine jab of Covishield or Covaxin rose after the virus’s ‘double mutant’ variant B1.617.2 began to spread. The government said that both were effective against it but did not offer details of clinical data to back up its assertion. A Covaxin trial was cited in support. Corroborative findings on AstraZeneca’s vaccine, called Covishield in India, have now arrived from a UK study. While one dose of it was found to provide insufficient protection from symptomatic B1.617.2 infection, two doses did an adequately good job of it. Overall, the vaccine was found to be largely effective.

Yes, vaccine formulations do differ from one another, but it’s now clear that the differences between the two main ones available in India are not large enough to justify the exercise of a preference, especially not if it results in a chance missed to get vaccinated. In India’s current scenario of undersupply, people should take whichever jab they can get. If ongoing research on using two different vaccines for the first and second doses also happen to show positive results, our vaccination drive would get mix-and-match flexibility too. So long as it has approval, a jab is a jab is a jab. It fends off covid.