GMCH Nagpur one of 11 sites selected for real world study on vaccine efficacy

NAGPUR: There have been cases in the country in which people tested positive for Covid-19, and even hospitalized, despite taking one or both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. Several such cases were reported in Nagpur too. Now, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has decided to conduct a ‘real world’ study of vaccine efficacy to understand this phenomenon.
This study is completely different from clinical trials.Randomized, controlled trials (RCTs) are used to evaluate treatment outcomes while real-world data helps in understanding effectiveness and safety of the vaccine in everyday clinical practice. The data is collected outside of the controlled environment of conventional RCTs.
Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Nagpur, will be one of the 11 sites for this nationwide study launched by ICMR through the National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai. The study will determine vaccine effectiveness in preventing severe Covid-19 infection.
Dr Uday Narlawar, head of the department of preventive and social medicine at GMCH confirmed this TOI. “We will track nearly 260 citizens. Some will be Covid-19 positive people who were hospitalized after vaccination. The rest will be vaccinated people who have tested negative in RT-PCR test,” he said.
According to experts, this research will determine if vaccine efficacy is influenced by factors such as age, prior Covid infection, number of doses administered and virus variants.
Epidemiologist Dr Anand Thatte said that the study is important because there hasn’t been a real-world assessment of any of the vaccines yet. “Many doctors have tested positive despite taking both the doses. I think the study will help us to know whether the mutation was behind this or something else,” he said.
Nagpur has been selected as a study site for a special reason. The second wave of Covid-19 is supposed to have started from parts of Vidarbha and Nagpur was the first big city to witness a major surge in cases and deaths in the second wave.
The 11 other sites are from Rajasthan, Gujarat, Odisha, Delhi and Tamil Nadu.
Nationally, the survey will track nearly 3,900 citizens. Of these, 1,300 will be Covid-positive people who were hospitalized after vaccination.