Bharat Biotech update the efficacy of Covaxin to 65.2% against the Delta variant

Commending the investigators from AIIMS on the BBV152 study published in Lancet Infectious Diseases, Bharat Biotech stated that these results provide evidence for effectiveness for COVAXIN in real life settings. Updated the efficacy of Covaxin to 65.2 percnt against the Delta variant in - Effectiveness Study on Delta Variant - Lancet Infectious Diseases, published on Tuesday.

"An effectiveness result of 50% achieved during the peak COVID-19 delta variant wave in India, in a high risk study population of physicians and healthcare workers, in a hospital environment, and who are challenged repeatedly with high viral loads, provides insights into the efficacy and effectiveness of Covaxin," the company said in a statement

"These results compare well with the 65.2% efficacy against the delta variant obtained during the controlled phase III clinical trials of Covaxin conducted among the general population. This study also shows that Covaxin meets the WHO efficacy criteria for COVID-19 vaccines for the dreaded Delta variants," the statement added.

The study, titled “Effectiveness of an inactivated virus-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, BBV152, in India: a test-negative, case-control study” assessed 2,714 hospital workers at AIIMS in Delhi, from April 15–May 15, who were symptomatic and underwent RT-PCR test for COVID-19 detection. The results were published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases Journal.

Results of an interim study conducted by AIIMS has shown that two doses of Covaxin, the indigenous vaccine developed by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in collaboration with Bharat Biotech, is 50% effective in preventing symptomatic infection due to COVID-19. This is lower than the 77.8 percent efficacy claimed by Bharat Biotech after phase 3 trials of the vaccine.

Covaxin, also known as BBV152, a two-dose regimen, with a gap of 28 days between each dose developed in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) one of the two most widely-used vaccines in the national inoculation exercise. On November 3, it was granted Emergency Use Listing (EUL) by the World Health Organization (WHO).