Different Covid vaccines not a problem, may do better: Virologist Polly Roy

Using different vaccines for the first and second doses is a good idea, says the expert in molecular virology.

India does not have enough Covid-19 vaccine doses to vaccinate the entire country, or even the groups of people who must be vaccinated in the government's recommended timeframe. There are not enough vaccines to distribute within cities, across the country and across age groups. This compounds the problem of Covid-19 spreading faster, or coming back in new waves.

Another set of problems is that the Indian variant--the B.1.617 mutation of the SARS-CoV-2 virus--seems to be spreading very fast not just in India but also in other parts of the world. What do we know about this mutation? What can we