India's COVID-19 vaccination drive: key challenges and resolutions

Comparison of neutralizing antibody response in first and second waves of SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in India

“…However, 80% of hospital admissions are all severe cases requiring intensive care units, and COVID-19-related mortality was observed only in unvaccinated populations. 8 Further, among the breakthrough cases during second wave infected with the Delta, majority of them did not progress to sever disease. 9 Hence, though the low cross-neutralizing antibody titers to heterologous strains (of first and second wave) were observed in this study, the data indicate that the serum of patients infected previously with one SARS-CoV-2 strain might provide protection against the rapidly emerging variants.…”

Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) in type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) temporally related to COVID-19 vaccination

“…India started the vaccination drive on January 16, 2021, and has since provided emergency authorization to three vaccines: the indigenously manufactured COVISHIELD (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19), the adenovirus vector-based vaccine developed with the master stock of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 by Oxford–AstraZeneca, India's first domestic vaccine- COVAXIN (BBV152- inactivated whole virion), an inactivated virus vaccine developed and manufactured by Bharat Biotech, and Sputnik V (Gam-COVID-Vac), a dual adenoviral vector-based vaccine developed by Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Moscow, Russia [ 6 , 7 ]. More than 1.07 billion doses of vaccines have since been administered in India [ 8 ].…”

“…The compromised innate immunity, an underlying chronic low-grade inflammation and an exaggerated pro-inflammatory response, characterized by increased cytokines like IL-1, IL-6, TNF-α, C-reactive protein, ferritin, and a hypercoagulable state contribute to the increasing severity in diabetics [ [9] , [10] , [11] ]. Acute hyperglycemia can upregulate angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2) expression facilitating viral entry, while chronic hyperglycemia can lead to low ACE-2 expression, leading to decreased degradation of angiotensin II to the vasodilatory, anti-proliferative and anti-inflammatory peptide angiotensin [ [1] , [2] , [3] , [4] , [5] , [6] , [7] ]. This response may be exaggerated after the immune response after natural infection or vaccination [ 12 ].…”

Convalescent plasma therapy against the emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants: Delineation of the potentialities and risks

“…The COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic has been caused by a novel coronavirus (nCoV) belonging to the sub-genus Sarbecovirus within the genus Betacoronavirus , known as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). The disease has spread throughout the globe resulting in more than 5.3 million fatalities in 223 nations [ [1] , [2] , [3] ]. This scenario has caused widespread panic, worldwide threats, financial losses, and a persistent escalation in daily COVID-19 cases [ 4 , 5 ].…”