COVID 19 vaccine or coronavirus vaccine as many call it, is our perceived return ticket to our routine lifestyle. But, how does a COVID 19 vaccine function? How will it function against Coronavirus? The answer lies within the structure of 2019 Novel Coronavirus.
The coronavirus has a characteristic spike protein, which it uses like a key to enter into the cell and then inserts its genetic material to hijack the cellular machinery. It commands the cell machinery to produce multiple copies of itself and then self-destruct.
Our immune system has to recognize the coronavirus, in order to stop it from functioning.
How it stops it from functioning?
That’s through the antibodies produced by our immune system, which cling onto the spike protein of coronavirus and prevent it from entering the cell.
How it recognizes the coronavirus?
That’s where the role of COVID 19 vaccine comes in. COVID Vaccine would give our body a weakened infection. When the immune system fights through the weakened infection, it would destroy it, but more importantly remember it. This induced immune response would help fight the real coronavirus, as it tries to enter in future.
There are four types of COVID 19 vaccines.
The virus vaccine
The viral vector vaccine
The nucleic acid vaccine
The protein based vaccine.
We discuss all these four types very briefly and identify its key features.
For COVID 19 Vaccine updates, we give examples from COVID 19 vaccine attempts being conducted presently for each type of vaccine.
We provide updates from leading vaccine candidates like University of Oxford, AstraZeneca, Moderna, Pfizer, BioNTech, Merck,Themis, Bharat Biotech (Covaxin), Zydus Cadila, CoronaVac etc.
There are three phases of clinical trials, clearing which a vaccine candidate can be approved for real world administration. We discuss the objectives of these three phases.
A COVID 19 vaccine tracker gives which vaccine candidates are progressing through which phases of clinical trials.
New York Times COVID 19 Vaccine Tracker link:
Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society’s COVID 19 Vaccine Tracker link:
Referenced newspaper article – The Indian Express link:
Link to our other videos for COVID awareness:
Thanks and wish you healthier times ahead.
