There is no information yet about the effectiveness of Covaxin against the coronavirus variant that was first detected in India, the vaccin...
There is no information yet about the effectiveness of Covaxin against the coronavirus variant that was first detected in India, the vaccine’s manufacturer Bharat Biotech told NDTV on Tuesday.
“I don’t know about the South African variant yet, but coming to the Indian double mutant, we don’t have knowledge, we will have data in about a week,” the company’s Chairperson Krishna Ella told the news channel.
Labelled B.1.617, the mutant variant was first detected in India, but has been now found in at least 15 countries. It was believed to have two mutations – E484Q and L452R. However, scientists now say that it has another mutation – P6814 – because of which it is being referred to as a “triple mutant” variant.
Ella indicated that the company may take longer to have the data ready.
“I don’t want people to bug me saying you said one week,” Ella said. “It takes time for us because it has to work in BSL 3 [Biosafety level 3] We are very serious about it, how do we need to put the regulatory people in the game and change the strain quickly? We don’t want a vaccine which doesn’t work.”
The Bharat Biotech chairperson added...