Mixing of Covaxin and Covishield as first and second doses or vice versa was found to be four times more effective, a study has said. The study was conducted to determine the safety profile of mixing Covishied and Covaxin along with checking the antibody response, said Hyderabad-based AIG Hospitals that collaborated with the Asian Healthcare Foundation for the research.

The key finding of the study was that the Spike-protein neutralising antibodies found in the mixed vaccine groups were significantly higher than the same-vaccine groups, D Nageshwar Reddy, chairman of AIG Hospitals said. “We found that when the first and second dose are of different vaccines, the Spike-protein antibody response is four times higher compared to two-dose of same vaccine,” he said. The study included 330 volunteers. The findings are particularly important when considering administering a third booster dose aiming to elicit robust antibody response and help in killing the virus, he said.