Mix-match of different COVID vaccines is safe and produces higher antibody response, according to a study released by AIG Hospitals here on Monday.

While the study "conclusively showed that mixing of vaccines is absolutely safe", the spike-protein neutralising antibodies in the mixed vaccine groups were found to be significantly higher than the same-vaccine groups.

The team included 330 healthy volunteers who were not vaccinated and had no history of COVID infection.

The team divided the 44 participants into two four groups: people who took first and second dose of Covishield, people who took first and second dose of Covaxin, people who took first dose of Covishield and second dose of Covaxin, and lastly, people who took first dose of Covaxin and second dose of Covishield.

The team followed all the participants for 60 days and found none of the participants developed any adverse effect.

The Omicron variant is considered to have more than 30 mutations in the spike protein, which enables it to evade vaccines as well as spread faster.

"Spike-protein neutralising antibodies are the ones which kill the virus and reduce the overall infectivity. 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 the same vaccine," Dr Reddy said.

"This is particularly important when considering the third booster dose. The concept of a booster is to elicit robust antibody response and help in killing the virus. Mixed doses can certainly boost these spike-protein neutralising antibodies and will enhance the vaccines' effectiveness even against the Omicron variant," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, last week, announced that healthcare/frontline workers, as well as elderly population (aged more than 60) with comorbidities, will get a precautionary dose from January 10 onwards.

(This story was published from a syndicated feed. Only the headline and picture has been edited by FIT)