Bharat Biotech's Covaxin works against Alpha, Delta Covid variants: top US body

Bharat Biotech's Covid vaccine Covaxin effectively neutralises both Alpha and Delta variants of coronavirus, the US' National Institute of Health has said.

The top American health research institute said results of two studies of blood serum from people who had received Covaxin suggest that the vaccine generates antibodies that effectively neutralise the Alpha variant that was first detected in the UK, as well as the Delta variant, first identified in India.

Published results from a phase 2 trial of the vaccine indicate that it is safe and well tolerated, the NIH said, adding that safety data from a phase 3 trial of Covaxin will become available later this year.

The unpublished interim results from the phase 3 trial indicate that the vaccine has 78% efficacy against symptomatic disease, 100% efficacy against severe Covid-19, including hospitalisation, and 70% efficacy against asymptomatic infection, the NIH said.

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