Covid-19 vaccine: Japan approves Covaxin booster dose for travellers
Premium- Bharat Biotech Covid-19 vaccine: In April this year, the country included Covaxin in the list of recognised vaccines
Japan on Friday approved Bharat Biotech's Covaxin booster dose for travellers. In April this year, the country included the Made-in-India Covid-19 vaccine in the list of recognised vaccines. And, today (August 5), Japan has also approved the booster shot of Covaxin.
In a statement, Bharat Biotech wrote, "We are proud to announce, Japan has approved COVAXIN booster dose for travellers".
Apart from Covaxin, Japan also recognizes Pfizer's Comirnaty, AstraZeneca's Vaxzevria, Moderna's Spikevax, Janssen's JCOVDEN, and Novavax's Nuvaxovid.
Last month, the Hyderabad-based company announced that the administration of the third dose of its Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin (BBV152) after six months of two-dose vaccination dramatically increased neutralizing antibody responses, and showed increased memory B cell response in subjects in controlled clinical trials.
The company said the findings are based on a comprehensive study that has demonstrated multiple benefits of Covaxin. According to Bharat Biotech, the vaccine provides benefits like long-term immune response, cell-mediated immunity, the safety of booster dose, and immunogenicity against spike protein.
Bharat Biotech said immune responses declined at six months but increased by 40-fold in subjects who received a booster dose. Immune responses when assessed against variants of concern and persisted up to 12 months.
The study was conducted on 184 subjects, who were randomized 1:1 and received either a booster dose of BBV152 or a placebo, 6 months after the primary series of two doses. Subjects were evaluated for safety, neutralizing antibody responses against variants of concern, binding antibodies against spike protein, RBD, and N proteins, and for memory T and B cell responses to demonstrate cell-mediated immunity, said the company.
Dr Krishna Ella, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharat Biotech, said, "Our team has now demonstrated that Covaxin is a multi-epitope vaccine with antibodies against spike, RBD, and N proteins. Post booster dose, it has proven to neutralize antibody responses against variants of concern and long-term protection through memory T and B cell responses. We have now achieved our goal of developing a safe and efficacious vaccine with long-term protection against a spectrum of variants."
According to Bharat Biotech, Covaxin is formulated uniquely such that the same dosage can be administered to adults and children alike, for primary and booster doses, making it a universal vaccine.
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