Study Says Single Dose Of Covid-19 Vaccine Sufficient For Already Positive People

"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", said Dr. Reddy.

Hyderabad: In a study released by the AIG Hospitals on Monday said that people who have already been infected with Covid-19 only need a single dose for the vaccine as there is a greater antibody response as compared to people who have had no prior infection. 

Doctors who worked on the study believe that this can help with vaccine shortages in the country. 

In the study, which was designed to assess the immunological memory response, 260 healthcare workers got vaccinated between January 16 and February 5, in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases (a peer-reviewed journal). All patients were given the Covishield vaccine. According to an ANI report, they were divided into two groups - the first comprised those who were RT-PCR positive for SARS-CoV-2 and had recovered while the second group comprised of those who were found RT-PCR negative and were categorized as no prior exposure.

Firstly, 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.

Secondly, Memory T-cell responses elicited by a single dose of vaccine were significantly higher in the previously infected group compared with 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.

Dr. D Nageshwar Reddy, Chairman, AIG Hospitals, and one of the co-authors of the study according to PTI 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.

Commenting on the impact that this study can have on the overall vaccine administration strategy Dr. Reddy said this will significantly help at a time when there's a shortage of vaccines in the country and more people can be covered using the saved doses. Once the requisite number of people are vaccinated for achieving herd immunity, these patients who got infected and received only one dose can take the second dose of the vaccine, he further said according to PTI.

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, Dr. Reddy added.