COVID 19 Vaccine - Can we mix brands

We are all eagerly looking for COVID 19 vaccination in India, getting vaccinated is a difficult task and all of us like fish out of water. If you get a shot of Covaxine first, you will be waiting for the same for the second dose. 

Are there any issues using Covishield in the second dose?

Vaccines are said to be different because their method of manufacturing is different. Some of them are heat-killing vaccines, protein vector vaseline or mRNA vaccines. However, the basic principle of vaccination is simple: our immune system recognizes the antigen part of the vaccine and builds antibodies, thus working when infected in future.

Moreover, no vaccine residues remain in our body at the time of the second dose, but only immune memory cells remember the antigen. So there will not be any difficulty in using a second dose or booster dose with different vaccines.

Recently good news has come out by Oxford University, they tried the usage and efficacy of mixing of covid vaccines of AstraZeneca and Pfizer with 850 volunteers. Their findings were amazing. No issues were reported while mixing vaccines and mixed dose schedules were also effective, said Matthew Snape of Oxford University.

Some countries are already using mixed doses such as Germany and Spain. Therefore, it's a piece of good news for India, importing or manufacturing different brands will help to curb the vaccine shortage.

Sileesh Mullasseri

Arabian Sea Became Hot - Causes heavy rain?

Solar heat is unequally distributed on the surface of the earth. Ocean transportation plays an important role in transmitting heat towards the higher latitudes from the equator, like atmospheric transportation.

Interestingly, the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea are at the same latitude, but the Bay of Bengal is warmer than the Arabian Sea. Why is the Arabian sea calm and cool?

Yes, the Arabian sea is cool because of the higher level of the ocean and atmospheric transport mediated by strong winds. Strong winds are formed because of the mountains in East Africa, they can transport ocean heat to higher latitudes. But the winds formed in the Bay of Bengal are sluggish, and the bay becomes warmer, thus navigators say the Bay of Bengal is an “Unpredictable lady” and the Arabian sea as “Gentleman”.

Image: qsstudy.com

In recent decades, the Arabian sea has been warmer. So, what happens?

The Arabian Sea has caused intense bursts of monsoons over India in the last two to three years. Last year the northern Arabian sea was up to 2-3 degrees warmer than usual, thus causing several monsoon sprouts over the northwest. Floods and landslides have occurred in recent years in Kerala, also connected with the Arabian sea.

Why does the Arabian sea become hot?

We can blame climate change as a famous bandwagon. Yes, the Arabian sea, failed to transport its heat to higher latitudes, which may be due to decreasing strength of winds that changes oceanic circulation. We can monitor this phenomenon, but what we can do is a question.

Sileesh Mullasseri

  Reply to emails?

An Indian frame of mind

Replying to an email is a matter of dignity, whether your reply is yes or no. Emails are modern tools for communication and collaboration. However, a large population of Indian's hang up to answer queries through emails, whether it is business or personal.

Why are most Indians not sending a reply to an email?

Being a researcher, I have to communicate with many people through emails, mostly related to research. In my experience, I received fast reply mails from other countries. Particularly, Europeans send quick replies, only delay due to time zones. Indians are usually delayed or even not replied to. This is not only in the case of personal mails but also with business emails. I have many experiences with Indian companies that have given info@xy.com but won't reply to emails within a day other than an auto-reply.

I searched the internet to know that the same happens with other people. Yes, it's true, this opinion has been raised by many. Some people opined that Indians are not assertive enough to say NO to anyone even through email. Some funny people say they are busy with Whatsapp and Facebook, not emails.

 The lost gods

Who was the first one?

Who is the first god…It’s a wonderful question. Yes, we are asking many questions such as who is the first president of India, who is the first UN secretary-general etc. I don’t know how many people ask this question. But asking questions is necessary for the development of human society.

About 5500 years back in Mesopotamia, there was a god named Enlil. He is the superior, powerful and creator of the universe at that time. Historical evidence says he was the first one. Later he also became the chief god of Sumerians and was known as Elil. But we don’t know why the people lost their trust in him and his influence was lost at the end of 1500 BC.

Later, about 3500 years back, Marduk became the most powerful god for nearly 1500 years. He was a Babylonian god. Yes, he was the god of the sixth Babylonian king, Hammurabi. However, there are contemporary gods in other regions of the world similar to Enlil and Marduk. Why am I talking about ancient gods? There are many contemporary gods. This is for reminding people that many gods ruled this world. They have lost their power, so the stories will change and new gods may come or even become all extinct. Because changes with space and time apply to gods.