India (WNEWS) – According to research published in the medical journal Lancet on Thursday, the Covid-19 vaccine developed by the pharmaceutical company Pfizer-BioNTech is likely to produce 5.8 times lower levels of antibodies against the B.1617 variant of the infection. The B.1617 variant, also known as the Delta variant, was first detected in India. The B.1.617 variant has been tied to the disastrous second wave of the pandemic in India. On Tuesday, the World Health Organization said that the B.1.617 strain in India was now considered “of concern”.
The study revealed that 250 healthy participants who received both doses of the vaccine, three months apart, showed that the levels of antibodies generated decreased with age and displayed a steady decline in antibodies over time.
The Pfizer vaccine is expected to be available in India in July and is likely to be administered to children as well. However, his observation makes a case for a booster dose of the vaccine. A separate study published in the medical journal Lancet found that residents with past Covid-19 infections were 85% less likely to get the virus than those who had never been infected.
Canada still considers India a high-risk country and has currently stopped incoming flights from the country.
