Are you the one who is in the dilemma that which covid vaccine is safe for you or are you the one who wants to know which covid vaccine will be appropriate for you, then you are in the right place, this article is particularly for you. Before taking the jab, clear all your doubts regarding covid vaccination.
We all know that vaccination is going on for the past few months intending to end this pandemic. Vaccination is highly important to fight this dreadful coronavirus. You also should not delay your vaccination if you are eligible to take the jab. Be it Covaxin or covishield or any other covid vaccine, all of them have one thing in common -they will build protective immunity against coronavirus infection inside our body. But some key points make the vaccines different. Here we will only discuss the key differences between covishield and Covaxin, which will suit best for you, which is more effective, and many more. Let’s have a look
Covaxin vs. Covishield manufacturer :
Covaxin is made by Bharat Biotech, developed in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and National Institute of Virology (NIV), India.
Covishield is developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca with original name Oxford-AstraZeneca. This vaccine is made in India under the brand name of Covishield by Serum Institute of India Pvt Ltd. In simple words Covishield is the Indian version of Oxford-AstraZeneca Vaccine.
Covaxin vs. Covishield vaccine type :
Covaxin is developed from an inactivated or dead virus. Covaxin is made with whole-virion inactivated SARS-CoV-2 antigen with many other ingredients including Aluminum hydroxide gel, TLR 7/8 agonist (imidazoquinolinone) , 2- phenoxyethanol and Phosphate buffer saline.
Covishield is partially live in nature. So Covishield Vaccine contains ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 coronavirus vaccine (Recombinant) 5X1010 viral particles (vp) and Recombinant, replication-deficient chimpanzee adenovirus vector encoding the SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) glycoprotein.
This vaccine also contains genetically modified organisms with ingredients like L-Histidine, L-Histidine hydrochloride monohydrate, Magnesium chloride hexahydrate, Polysorbate 80, Ethanol, Sucrose, Sodium chloride, Disodium edetate dihydrate ( EDTA), Water for injection.
Covaxin vs. Covishield vaccination process :
Both Covaxin and Covishield are given through injection. So both are given in upper arm muscle preferably in the Deltoid Muscle.
Covaxin vs. Covishield dose :
Both Covaxin and Covishield are two shots vaccine. For both the vaccines each dose contains 0.5 ml. of vaccine.
Covaxin vs. Covishield interval between first dose and second dose :
The interval between the first dose and the second dose of Covaxin is 4-6 Weeks. The interval between the first and the second dose of Covishield is 12-16 weeks.
Covaxin vs. Covishield efficacy :
The overall efficiency of Covaxin is 77.8% against symptomatic covid 19 illiness. Covaxin has 93.4% efficiency against severe symptomatic covid 19 illness. Also, Covaxin gives 65.2% protection against delta variant of coronavirus.
On the other hand Covishield has 76% efficiency against symptomatic covid 19 illness. After the second dose of Covishield, the efficiency becomes 82%. Covishield is also effective against delta variant of coronavirus but the percentage is not known yet.
Covaxin vs. Covishield efficacy against Omicron :
As Omicron is the not spike protein variant of covid 19, the vaccines which are made based on the covid 19 spike protein will not be effective against omicron. As covishield is a covid 19 spike protein based vaccine, technically, covishield should not that much effective against covid.
On the other side, Covaxin is made from the whole dead virus of corona, so it will be more effective against omicron.
It is important to note that data regarding omicron is really very limited to date. So there is not sufficient available data to conclude anything. Without any official data coming to conclusion will be too early.
Covaxin vs. Covishield side effects :
As Covaxin is made by dead virus, the side effects are less compared to Covishield. The side effects of Covaxin are mostly associatd with the injection. So one may have pain and redness at the injection site, headache or even mild fever etc.
The side effects due to injection are usually stays up to 2 to 3 days. If the injection is given more carefully then one can expect no side effect. in general Covaxin delivers the least amount of side effects.
As Covishield is made from living virus parts, so Covishield has different kind of side effects other than the side effects associated with the injection.
The Covishield side effects are divided in three categories- very common side effects (like fever, headache, nausea, tiredness, etc.), common side effects (like diarrhea, vomiting, etc.) and uncommon side effects like abdominal pain, appetite loss etc. For more details on the side effects of Covishield check our full article on Covishield.
Covaxin vs. Covishield who can get the vaccine :
Covaxin can be taken anyone who is above 18 years old and are eligible to take covaxin. Recently Government of India approved Covaxin for kids above 2 years of age. Covaxin is already approved by WHO for adults. It is yet to get approval for emergency use of covid vaccine for children from WHO.
Covishield can be taken anyone if he/she is above 18 years old and are not belong to the restricted group.
Covaxin vs. Covishield who can not get the vaccine :
Covaxin should not be taken by someone if you are severely allergic to any of the ingredients of covaxin. If you faced severe allergic reaction after the first shot (dose) then should not take this vaccine. Also during vaccination time, if you have acute infection or fever then also you are not eligible to take this vaccine.
Similarly, Covishield should not be taken by someone who have severely allergic to any of the ingredients of the covishield. Again, people with hypersensitivity, concurrent illness, etc. are not encouraged to take covishield vaccine. For more details about Covishield click here
Covaxin vs. Covishield potential risk factors :
Covaxin users have not reported any fatal reports till date in India after giving almost 46 milion shots. The only risk associated is if one is not eligible to take the vaccine but still taken such as during active covid 19 infection.
Covishield has as such no risk factors, but always remember uncontrolled co-morbidities like diabetes, high blood pressure, any cancer, or if you are under any medication that can weaken your immunity, then taking covishield may not give you the desired results.
Covaxin vs. Covishield statistics :
Covaxin is taken by 46 milion Indians (exact number of covaxin shots are 46,227004 as on 11th July, 2021) with zero fatal case.
Covishield is taken by 325 milion Indians (exact number of shots are 32,58,34,486 as on 11th July, 2021) with very few fatal cases.
Covaxin vs. Covishield approvals :
Covaxin was initially approved by Indian Government. Later on November 2021, WHO (World Health Organization) approved covaxin.
Covishield is approved by WHO and are given in many countries worldwide.
Covaxin vs. Covishield summary :
As Covishield is made by partially live virus, so it gives more antibodies than covaxin as per initial reports. But as Covaxin is made from dead virus it gives less side effects as compared to covishield. As covaxin is made from a dead whole coronavirus, so covaxin will give more protection against the mutant variants of coronavirus such as delta variants, Omicron and so on.
If you are allergic to any ingredients of Covishield then you should go for Covaxin and vice versa.
If you are at higher risk group of coronavirus exposure such as health care workers, living in crowded household, more exposed to outside people, etc. then it is better to go with Covaxin covid 19 vaccine.
As Covaxin is made by dead virus, so covaxin is a better choice for people with higher risk of exposure.
Similarly people with lower risk of exposure can take Covishield vaccine.
Here it is important to mention that you should maintain all the covid precautions such as wearing a mask, etc. because no vaccine is 100% preventive. Also we recommend to drink Kadha as it helps to cure the covid 19 symptoms. We suggest to follow the precautions to keep children safe from covid 19.
We suggest if you feel tired or have any common lung issues like coughing, shortness in breathing, etc. then before vaccinating yourself test your lung through simple chest x-ray. Why we are suggesting it? Because 80% of the coronavirus cases are asymptomatic and we found many times, in these asymptomatic coronavirus cases, unknowingly the lungs are affected. So certainly not mandatory, but before vaccination a chest x-ray is a safe practice!
Takeaway :
Covishield and Covaxin both are covid vaccines. Both of them are highly effective against coronavirus. So if you take any vaccine, it will be effective for you and will build protective immunity inside your body. You should take the vaccine be it Covishield or Covaxin. We suggest to follow some activities that will help to get the most effective result from the vaccine. After reading this article, hopefully, you will be able to decide which vaccine you want to take. Take the vaccine and be a part to make this world covid free. Stay safe and healthy.
