Thread by @BiIndia

OPINION: “I would bet on #Novovax,” a doctor’s take on how to make the #COVID19 vaccine jabs more effective

businessinsider.in/news/opinion-i…

By Dr. Vipin Vashishtha

The relentless march of #COVIDSecondWave in India continues. The daily case count has gone beyond 200,000 cases per day. Everybody, including the Health Ministry, seems clueless on how to tackle and contain this monstrous surge.

#Novovax #COVID19

The nervousness of the current establishment reflects in their somewhat knee-jerk reaction to give a go-ahead signal to all foreign-produced #COVID19 vaccines that have been granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) in other countries.

#Novovax

Another vector vaccine, Johnson & Johnson’s (JNJ’s) Adenovirus 26 (Adv26), is on the verge of getting the health ministry’s nod. Already, two Covid vaccines, #Covishield and #Covaxin, are being used in the ongoing program.

#Novovax #COVID19Vaccine

Will these vaccines be effective against the ongoing surge? Will Sputnik-V prove to be a better choice than Covishield and Covaxin? Or will the single-dose JNJ Adv26 prove to be the game-changer? To answer these, we need first to unveil the variant virus behind the current surge.

➡️ Which variant is driving the current wave?

Reports say that this “double mutation” variant, which is now termed as B.1.617, was the most common in the samples sequenced in the 60 days before April 2 at 24%, whereas the second-most commonly found variant was the UK variant.

The analysis shows that the main offender is B.1.617, circulating menacingly in major states of India. The new Indian variant, B.1.617, is spreading fast outside the country and is now present in at least 11 countries and 8 US states.

#Novovax #COVID19

#Novavax is extremely safe, being free from the rare adverse events of vector vaccines. Though they are not yet tried against the new Indian variant, going by their efficacy against E484K mutation, they are supposed to provide better protection than both Covishield and Sputnik-V.

Put simply, the game has changed, and a successful global rollout of current vaccines by itself is no longer a guarantee of victory.

There is no point inoculating billion people with a jab that may not accord requisite protection against the offender.

#Novovax #COVID19