Recently, pharmaceutical giants Pfizer BioNtech and Moderna both announced that they had initiated clinical trials of Omicron-specific vaccines. The two vaccines in play use the same mRNA technology other COVID-19 vaccines use. However, given that the Omicron variant has at least 50 mutations that differentiate it from the earliest SARS-CoV-2 strain, the variant-specific vaccine is believed to be slightly different from the original vaccines.
The Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine triggers an immune response by activating cells to fight the deadly pathogens. These instruct cells to make a protein or a piece of coronavirus spike protein that produces an immune response in the body. It is to note that these artificially created spike proteins cannot replicate like the original virus.
The COVID vaccines currently being administered in India are very different from the vaccines being developed by Pfizer and Moderna. While both target the SARs-COV-2 virus, the technology they use are very different.
The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, locally known as Covishield, is a “recombinant, replication-deficient chimpanzee adenovirus vector encoding the SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) glycoprotein.” The vaccine uses another virus to generate antibodies to fight deadly pathogens i.e. it triggers an immune response by using a modified version of a different virus, known as a vector.
On the other hand, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin is an inactivated vaccine, which does not replicate.
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Omicron-specific vaccines are developed to specifically target the Omicron variant.
Recently, pharmaceutical giants Pfizer BioNtech and Moderna both announced that they had initiated clinical trials of Omicron-specific vaccines. The two vaccines in play use the same mRNA technology other COVID-19 vaccines use. However, given that the Omicron variant has at least 50 mutations that differentiate it from the earliest SARS-CoV-2 strain, the variant-specific vaccine is believed to be slightly different from the original vaccines.
The Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine triggers an immune response by activating cells to fight the deadly pathogens. These instruct cells to make a protein or a piece of coronavirus spike protein that produces an immune response in the body. It is to note that these artificially created spike proteins cannot replicate like the original virus.
The COVID vaccines currently being administered in India are very different from the vaccines being developed by Pfizer and Moderna. While both target the SARs-COV-2 virus, the technology they use are very different.
The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, locally known as Covishield, is a “recombinant, replication-deficient chimpanzee adenovirus vector encoding the SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) glycoprotein.” The vaccine uses another virus to generate antibodies to fight deadly pathogens i.e. it triggers an immune response by using a modified version of a different virus, known as a vector.
On the other hand, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin is an inactivated vaccine, which does not replicate.
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