What is the nature of India's indigenous COVID‐19 vaccine?
It is a preparation of inactivated whole virus
India's COVID-19 Indigenous Vaccine Nature
India developed its own indigenous COVID-19 vaccine. Understanding the nature of this vaccine is important for knowing how it works to provide immunity against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The primary indigenous vaccine developed in India, for example, COVAXIN by Bharat Biotech, belongs to a specific category of vaccines.
Vaccine Types and Mechanisms
Vaccines work in different ways to teach our immune system how to fight off a virus. Some common types include:
- Inactivated Whole Virus: Uses whole virus particles that have been killed or inactivated, so they cannot cause disease. The immune system learns to recognize the harmless virus.
- Attenuated Whole Virus: Uses live virus particles that have been weakened (attenuated) so they can replicate but do not cause serious illness.
- mRNA Vaccines: These vaccines use messenger RNA (mRNA) that instructs our cells to make a harmless piece of the virus's spike protein. The immune system recognizes this protein and builds a response.
- Viral Vector Vaccines: These use a modified version of a different virus (the vector) to deliver instructions to our cells to make a piece of the coronavirus spike protein.
Nature of India's Indigenous Vaccine
India's indigenous COVID-19 vaccine (like COVAXIN) is a preparation made from the entire SARS-CoV-2 virus. However, this virus is grown in a lab and then chemically inactivated. Inactivation means the virus is killed and cannot cause infection or replicate within the body. But, the inactivated virus still retains its structure, including the spike protein and other viral components. When this inactivated whole virus is injected, the body's immune system recognizes the entire virus particle as foreign and mounts an immune response against various parts of the virus, including the spike protein.
This type of vaccine stimulates both antibody production and cell-mediated immunity, offering broad recognition of the virus.
| Vaccine Type | What it Uses | Example (COVID-19 context) |
|---|---|---|
| Inactivated Whole Virus | Killed virus particles | India's indigenous vaccine (e.g., COVAXIN) |
| Attenuated Whole Virus | Weakened live virus | (Not commonly used for COVID-19) |
| mRNA Vaccine | Genetic material (mRNA) for spike protein | Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna |
| Viral Vector Vaccine | Modified harmless virus carrying spike protein gene | Oxford-AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson |
Based on this understanding, the nature of India's indigenous COVID-19 vaccine aligns with the description of an inactivated whole virus preparation.
Important Questions from Immune System
Consider the following statements -
1. This type of Immunoglobulin is a type of antibody representing approximately 75% of serum antibodies in humans.
2. It is present in most abundant quantity in the blood circulation
Which type of immunoglobulin is being talked about?
Allergy and anaphylaxis are due to -
Cells that release histamine and other vasoactive substances in response to allergens are -
Which is not a part of lymphatic system?
Bacterial infections are generally divided into two broad classes: intracellular and extracellular bacterial infections. Given below are some of the properties which are applicable for bacterial infections.
A. Humoral immune response is the main protective response against extracellular bacteria.
B. Innate immunity is not effective against intracellular bacterial pathogens.
C. Bacterial endotoxins do not induce an innate immune response.
D. Intracellular bacterial infections generally induce a cell-mediated immune response resulting in secretion of cytokines which activate macrophages.
Which one of the following combination of statements is correct?
