The Covid-19 Vaccine

Abstract

To achieve the required level of herd immunity against SARS CoV-2, widespread deployment of COVID-19 vaccine is the best intervention to safeguard against the high mortality, economic disruption, and the major adjustments to our way of life. Vaccine development and its roll out in the market typically goes through various phases viz. the exploratory phase, the preclinical study, human clinical trials, review and approval, manufacturing, and post-marketing surveillance. There are various COVID-19 vaccine platforms broadly classified as gene-based vaccines and the proteinbased vaccines. As per WHO the efficacy of 50% is sufficient for a vaccine whereas an efficacy of less than 60% may fail to achieve herd immunity. Several international organizations are working in collaboration to ensure sufficient financing and fair distribution of the vaccine supply throughout the world. In India there are two vaccines which have been rolled out for public use viz. Covishield vaccine developed by Astra Zeneca in collaboration with Oxford University, UK and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India; and the Covaxin manufactured by the Bharat Biotech a local manufacturing company in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Medical Research (ICMR), India. Currently there are 242 candidate vaccines worldwide and 11 are licensed for public use in various countries. The speed with which the virus will be eliminated from the communities thus would depend not only on the presence of an efficient vaccine but also on the efforts to remove vaccine hesitancy, training of health workers and adequate vaccine coverage.\nHow to cite this article: \nAthavale AV. The Covid-19 Vaccine. J Adv Res Med Sci Tech 2021; 8(1): 29-35.\nDOI: https://doi.org/10.24321/2394.6539.202103