India’s COVID-19 Vaccine Covaxin Shows High Levels of Antibody Response

Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin (BBV152), the first successful COVID-19 vaccine developed in India, showed high levels of antibody response and no serious side effects in a phase 2 study, researchers reported in The Lancet.

Last week, the company reported that the vaccine demonstrated an 81 percent efficacy in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 in an interim analysis from a 25,800-participant phase 3 trial.

The two-dose vaccine can be stored at standard refrigeration temperatures of 35.6 to 46.4 degrees Fahrenheit, so it presents fewer logistical hurdles than messenger RNA-based vaccines that must be stored ultra-cold.