COVID-19 Vaccines in India: What You Need to Know

COVID-19 Vaccines in India

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	COVISHIELD (AstraZeneca)	COVAXIN (Bharat Biotech/ICMR)
Official Name	ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 a.k.a AZ1222 (known as COVISHIELD in India)	Covaxin (also known as BBV152 A, B, C)
Consent	Oral consent required	Written consent required (Vaccine has completed Phase 1 & 2 successfully, with Phase 3 trials ongoing. Permission has been given for emergency use in “clinical trail mode”)
Authorized age group	>18 years	≥18 years Only individuals prioritized under public health program of MoHFW)
Vaccination during pregnancy, lactating mothers & <18 years	Not recommended	Not recommended
Type of vaccine	Non-Replicating Viral Vector Vaccine (DNA sequence for coronavirus spike protein delivered via chimpanzee adenovirus viral vector)	Whole virus vaccine (Inactivated virus)
Efficacy	62 – 90%, depending on dosage	Unknown
Number of doses per vial	10	20
Shelf life	6 months	6 months
Route of administration	Intramuscular (IM)	Intramuscular (IM)
Dose	0.5 ml	0.5 ml
Course schedule	2 doses 4 weeks apart	2 doses 4 weeks apart
Storage	2 -8°C	2 – 8 °C
Adverse effects	Injection site pain and tenderness, headache, fatigue, myalgia, malaise, pyrexia, chills, arthralgia and nausea. Demyelinating disorders have been reported very rarely, but no causal relationship with the vaccine has been identified.	Injection site pain/swelling/redness/ itching, upper arm stiffness, weakness in the injection arm, myalgia, headache, fever, malaise, weakness, rashes, nausea, vomiting.
Interactions	–	Use of chloroquine and corticosteroids may impair antibody response
Contraindications	History of anaphylactic or allergic reaction to a previous dose of COVID-19 vaccine; Immediate or delayed onset anaphylaxis or allergic reaction to other vaccines, injectable therapies, pharmaceutical products, food items etc. Pregnant and lactating women	History of allergies Fever at time of vaccination Bleeding disorder or are on blood thinner medications Immunocompromised or on medication that affects immune system Pregnant and lactating women Have received another COVID-19 vaccine Any other serious health-related issues, as determined by the vaccinator/officer supervising vaccination
Can another vaccine (COVID-19 or otherwise) be administered after taking this one?	If required, alternative COVID-19 vaccines and other vaccines can be given 2 weeks after administering the complete schedule.	There is no scientific information yet available on the appropriateness of use of the Covaxin along with other vaccines.
Interchangeability of vaccine doses	Not permitted. 20 dose should be of the same vaccine as the 1st dose.

*People with history of COVID.19 infection, with comorbidities CAN take the vaccine. There is currently no contraindication for immunocompromised people with the COVISHIELD vaccine.

References:

Letter from Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare – Contraindications and Factsheet for COVID-19 vaccines; 14th Jan 2021
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/science/coronavirus-vaccine-tracker.html (accessed 16th Jan 2021)
Factsheet for Vaccine Recipients and Caregivers – Bharat Biotech (accessed 19th Jan 2021)

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