Covishield, Covaxin Work Against Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta Variants: Centre

ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava said reduction of neutralisation capabilities of vaccine with different variants shows that Covaxin does not change with the Alpha variant at all and so it is same as it is with the standard strain.

Vaccines Covishield and Covaxin work against SARS-CoV-2 variants Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta, while effectiveness tests against the Delta Plus variant is ongoing, the government said on Friday. There are four variants of concern of the coronavirus disease -- Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta -- with Delta Plus being a sub-lineage of the Delta variant which is also a variant of concern. Addressing a press conference, ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava said reduction of neutralisation capabilities of vaccine with different variants, which is based on global literature, shows that Covaxin does not change with the Alpha variant at all and so it is same as it is with the standard strain. "Covishield reduces slightly with Alpha, by 2.5 times. For the Delta variant, Covaxin is effective but antibody response is slightly reduced to three-fold reduction, and for Covishield, it is two-fold reduction, while in Pfizer and Moderna it is seven-fold reduction," he said.