A ‘single dose’ of vaccine sufficient for those already infected with COVID-19: AIG study

Over three crore vaccine doses can be saved and utilised to increase the coverage

A recent study conducted by AIG Hospitals has said that a ‘single dose’ of vaccine is sufficient for those already infected with COVID-19.

In a statement, AIG Hospitals, Hyderabad said that it has recently published a study conducted on 260 healthcare workers who got vaccinated between 16^th January and 5^th February, 2021 in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases. The study was designed to assess the immunological memory response in all those patients. All patients were given the Covishield vaccine.

The two significant observations that came out of the study are:

• The previously infected group (people who got infected with COVID-19) showed a greater antibody response to a single dose of vaccine compared with those who had no prior infection.
• Memory T-cell responses elicited by a single dose of vaccine were significantly higher in the previously-infected group compared to those who had no prior infection.

“It was concluded that higher memory T and B-cell responses, in addition to higher antibody response with a single dose of vaccine given at three to six months’ after recovery from COVID-19 may be considered at par with two doses of vaccine for individuals already infected with COVID-19,” added the statement.

Commenting on the impact that this study can have on the overall vaccine administration strategy, Dr D Nageshwar Reddy, Chairman, AIG Hospitals, and one of the co-authors in the study, said, “The results show that people who got infected with COVID-19 need not take two doses of vaccine as a single dose can develop robust antibody and memory cell response at par with two-doses for those who didn’t get the infection. This will significantly help at a time when there’s a shortage of vaccine in the country and more people can be covered using the saved doses.”

He further said, “Once we attain the requisite number of people vaccinated for achieving herd immunity, these patients who got infected and received only one dose can take the second dose of the vaccine. At this point, all our strategies should be directed at the widespread distribution of available vaccines and to include the maximum number of people at least with a single dose.”