In the context of vaccines manufactured to prevent COVID-19 pandemic, consider the following statements:
- The Serum Institute of India produced a COVID-19 vaccine named Covishield using an mRNA platform.
- Sputnik. V vaccine is manufactured using a vector-based platform.
- COVAXIN is an inactivated pathogen-based vaccine.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
- 1 and 2 only
- 2 and 3 only
- 1 and 3 only
- 1, 2 and 3
Explanation
Statement 1 is incorrect
- Covishield was developed by Oxford University in collaboration with AstraZeneca. AstraZeneca’s vaccine formula was licensed to Pune-based vaccine maker Serum Institute of India (SII) during the coronavirus pandemic to manufacture Covishield. The vaccine has been developed by using a weakened version of the adenovirus.
- Adenovirus causes infections in chimpanzees, and its genetic material is the same as that of the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. The spike protein is the part of SARS-CoV-2 that the virus uses to enter a human body cell. The vaccine contains the genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 virus spike protein. After vaccination, the spike protein is produced on the cell surface, priming the immune system to attack SARS-CoV-2 if it later infects the body.
Statement 2 is correct
- Sputnik V is a vector-based vaccine, similar to Covishield. It employs two different human adenovirus vectors to deliver genetic material that encodes the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2.
Statement 3 is correct
- Covaxin was India’s first indigenous vaccine against Covid-19.Developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research and National Institute of Virology, Pune. It is an inactivated vaccine.
- An inactivated vaccine is one which is developed by inactivating the live microbe that cause the disease. This destroys the pathogen’s ability to replicate but keeps it intact so that the immune system can still recognise it and produce an immune response.
