A new study has established that administration of both the doses either of Pfizer-BioNTech or AstraZeneca-University of Oxford vaccine renders effective protection against the Covid variant detected in India,

The study highlighted the need for both doses for complete protection, as the vaccines are significantly less effective after a single shot.

After the two doses of the vaccine, are also effective at protecting against the variant that first emerged in the U.K.

The variant first discovered in India has caused widespread infections across the country, overwhelming hospitals and taking thousands of lives. People were worried about the effectiveness of vaccines against this variant. To address this concern among people over the globe, the PHE study analyzed data from 1,054 people, of all age groups and several ethnicities, confirmed as having the B.1.617.2 variant through genomic sequencing. 

The study reported that two doses of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or AstraZeneca-University of Oxford vaccine are effective in rendering protection against the Covid variant first discovered in India and also against the variant that first emerged in the U.K. Receiving only a single dose does not give enough protection to fight the virus. This study is the first real-world evidence of vaccine effectiveness and protection against the variant detected in India.

The Research reported that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was 88% effective against symptomatic disease from the B.1.617.2 Covid variant and 93% effective against the B.1.1.7 variant, two weeks following the second dose. 

While, AstraZeneca vaccine was 60% effective against symptomatic disease from the B.1.617.2 variant and 66% effective against the B.1.1.7 variant, two weeks following the second dose. 

The authors also mentioned that the Effectiveness of the Vaccine against symptomatic disease from the B.1.617.2 variant is similar after 2 doses compared to the B.1.1.7 (Kent) variant dominant in the U.K. and there can be even higher levels of effectiveness against hospitalization and death.

The difference in effectiveness between the vaccines after two doses can be due to the rollout of AstraZeneca 2nd dose was later than for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and other data on antibody profiles suggests AstraZeneca vaccine takes longer to reach the peak effectiveness.”

Additionally, both the vaccines showed only 33% effectiveness against symptomatic disease from B.1.617.2 and 50% against the B.1.1.7 variant, three weeks after the first dose.