New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: In what could be a breakthrough step in India's fight against COVID-19, the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) on Sunday said that the mixing and matching of Covisheild and Covaxin doses -- two vaccines used in India -- showed yielded better results.

According to the ICMR study, conducted by the National Institute of Virology (NIV), on 18 people, who reportedly received two doses of different vaccines in Uttar Pradesh's Siddharth Nagar by mistake, the combination of two different vaccines elicit better immunogenicity than two doses of the same vaccine.

Immunization with a combination of an adenovirus vector platform-based vaccine followed by inactivated whole virus vaccine was not only safe but also elicited better immunogenicity," the ICMR, in its study, said. The study, however, is yet to be peer-reviewed.

"Though India so far has followed homologous approach (two doses of one vaccine) with Covishield and Covaxin, eighteen individuals, under the national program, inadvertently received Covishield as the first jab and Covaxin as the second," it said.

The study compared the safety and immunogenicity profile of those people who received two doses of different vaccines, against that of individuals receiving either Covishield or Covaxin. The study showed that the immunogenicity profile against Alpha, Beta and Delta variants in the heterologous group was superior.

“Immunogenicity profile against Alpha, Beta and Delta variants in heterologous or (mix and match) group was superior; IgG antibody and neutralising antibody response of the participants was also significantly higher compared to that in the homologous groups,” the study revealed.

“These findings have an important implication for the COVID-19 vaccination program wherein heterologous immunisation will pave the way for induction of improved and better protection against the variant strains of SARS-CoV-2. Such mixed regimens will also help to overcome the challenges of shortfall of particular vaccines and remove hesitancy around vaccines in people’s minds,” the study said.

This came days after the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) has suggested mixing two different COVID vaccines. The SEC had asked the government to grant permission to Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore, for conducting a clinical trial on the mixing of Covaxin and Covishield.