Delhi, Jan 12: Bharat Biotech inform that the Covaxin booster dose has been shown to neutralise both Omicron and Delta variants of COVID-19 on Wednesday.

“Booster dose of Covaxin generated robust neutralizing antibody responses against both Omicron and Delta,” the Hyderabad-based pharma company said in a statement.

The study was conducted at the Emory Vaccine Center in Atlanta based on blood serum collected from 13 individuals, 28 days after their booster shot. It was sponsored by Bharat Biotech’s partner Ocugen Inc.

Bharat Biotech had earlier said trials have indicated that its vaccine Covaxin is safe for booster dosage against Covid-19. The Hyderabad-based company had announced the results on the safety and immunogenicity of COVAXIN (BBV152).

The analysis showed, six months after a two-dose BBV152 vaccination series cell-mediated immunity and neutralizing antibodies to both homologous (D614G) and heterologous strains (Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Delta plus) persisted above baseline, although the magnitude of the responses had declined, the company said.

Neutralizing antibodies against homologous and heterologous SARS-CoV-2 variants increased from 19 to 265 folds after a third vaccination, it said.

Booster BBV152 vaccination is safe and may be necessary to ensure persistent immunity to prevent breakthrough infections, it further said.

Bharat Biotech observed that Covaxin is formulated uniquely such that the same dosage can be administered to adults and children alike.

Also Read: No paracetamol, pain killers recommended after being vaccinated with Covaxin: Bharat Biotech

“Omicron is not the common cold, it’s our responsibility to slow it down. Let’s Mask Up and get vaccinated, whoever is due. It’s fact they (vaccines) are helpful to an extent. Vaccination critical pillar of our COVID response”, said Niti Aayog Member (Health) Dr V.K. Paul.

India’s active caseload currently stands at 9,55,319 with its recovery rate at 96.01 percent. The country recorded 60,405 recoveries in the last 24 hours taking its total recoveries to 3,46,30,536. India recorded 1,94,720 new cases in the last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, confirmed cases of Omicron rose to 4,868.

Kerala clocked fresh COVID-19 cases with the state reporting 9,066 new infections, which raised the caseload to 52,91,280. The state had reported 5,797 cases a day earlier.

Tamil Nadu reported 15,379 new cases, up from Monday’s 13,990. Similarly, Kerala registered a sharp rise in its daily cases, reporting 9,066 new infections.

Karnataka announced an extension in the state-wide COVID-19 restrictions till the end of January, on the day it reported 14,473 new cases. Delhi, too, introduced fresh curbs, making work from home in private offices compulsory. However, it barred those in the exempted category. The national capital on January 11 reported 21,259 new cases and 23 fatalities. Meanwhile, COVID-19 cases rose over 29 percent in a single day to 2,837 in Assam, the highest since June 22 last year.

Maharashtra, meanwhile, recorded 34,424 new cases. However, Mumbai, continued its downward spiral, registering 11,647 cases on January 11.