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    HomeNewsTrendsHealthCOVID-19 vaccine update | Covaxin effective against Delta Plus variant, says ICMR study

    COVID-19 vaccine update | Covaxin effective against Delta Plus variant, says ICMR study

    Covaxin was developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and its subsidiary National Institute of Virology (NIV).

    Moneycontrol News
    August 02, 2021 / 15:03 IST
    Vial of Covaxin (File image)

    COVAXIN is effective against Delta Plus variant of COVID-19, news agency ANI reported, quoting medical body ICMR, as saying. Covaxin was developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)  and its subsidiary National Institute of Virology (NIV).

    The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) on June 22 designated the ‘Delta Plus’ variant of the novel coronavirus, as a “variant of concern”.

    The Delta plus, also known as AY.1 variant is a mutated version of B.1.617.2 strain, named delta by the WHO. Though there is no indication yet of the severity of the disease caused by the new variant, Delta Plus is said to be resistant to the monoclonal antibody cocktail treatment for COVID-19 recently authorised in India.

    Currently, as many as 70 cases of Delta Plus variant, of coronavirus were found in genome sequencing, Union science and technology minister Jitendra Singh said on July 30. In a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha, the minister said that 58,240 samples of Sars-CoV-2 have been sequenced in India so far, out of which 46,124 were analysed by the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG).

    COVID-19 Vaccine

    Frequently Asked Questions

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    How does a vaccine work?

    A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

    How many types of vaccines are there?

    There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

    What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

    Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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    "A total of 70 Delta Plus strains have been found as on 23.07.2021," Singh said.

    In a statement on July 19, the INSACOG said there is currently no evidence of any new Delta sub-lineage that is of greater concern than Delta.

    Follow our LIVE blog for latest updates of the novel coronavirus pandemic

    Bharat Biotech on April 21 had also announced phase 3 interim analysis results of Covaxin that demonstrated that the COVID-19 vaccine has 78 percent efficacy which was slightly lower than the first interim data that indicated efficacy of 81 percent at a four-week interval between two doses.

    It was also found that Covaxin is 65 percent effective against the Delta variant of the coronavirus disease.

    Meanwhile, the trials of Covaxin is also being conducted on children. Dr Randeep Guleria, Director of All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) has informed that the trials on children are underway and the results are expected by September.

    Follow our full coverage of the coronavirus pandemic here.
    Moneycontrol News
    first published: Aug 2, 2021 03:03 pm

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