Different variety of Coronavirus Vaccine

All vaccines aim is to provoke the immune system to produce antibodies without causing infection.

There are different varieties of vaccine with the name of the company developing it.

1. Virus Based
2. Viral vector
3. Nucleic acid
4. Protein-based

Virus Based

Making of the vaccine in a weakened or inactivated form. Eg- polio.

Weakened virus- Virus automatically get a week when passed through animal or human cell until it picks up mutation. Scientists can also weaken the virus by changing its genetic code.

Inactivated Virus- Scientists make viruses uninfected using chemicals such as heat or formaldehyde.

Example for coronavirus vaccine-  

• Develop By- Beijing Institute of Biological Products and Sinopharm

Vaccine name: NVX-CoV2373
Efficacy: 89.3% against most variants
Dose: 2 doses, 3 weeks apart
Type: Muscle injection
Storage: Stable in refrigerator

• Develop by- Bharat Biotech, ICMR, and National Instate of Virology

Vaccine name: Covaxin
(also known as BBV152 A, B, C)
Efficacy: Unknown
Dose: 2 doses, 4 weeks apart
Storage: At least a week at room temperature

Viral Vector

A virus is genetically engineered so that it can produce coronavirus protein in the body. This virus is weakened so that it cannot cause disease.  

Example for coronavirus vaccine-

• Develop by- Russia Gamaleya Research Institute

Vaccine name: Sputnik V
(also known as Gam-Covid-Vac)
Efficacy: 91.6%
Dose: 2 doses, 3 weeks apart
Type: Muscle injection
Storage: Freezer storage.
Developing an alternative formulation that can be refrigerated.

• Develop by- Oxford University and AstraZeneca

Vaccine name: AZD1222
(also known as Covishield in India)
Efficacy: 82.4% for doses separated by 12 weeks.
Dose: 2 doses
Type: Muscle injection
Storage: Stable in refrigerator for at least 6 months

• Develop by- ‘Johnson and Johnson’ and ‘Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center’

Vaccine name: Ad26.COV2.S
Efficacy: 72% in the United States, 66% in Latin America, 57% in South Africa
Dose: 1 dose
Type: Muscle injection
Storage: Up to two years frozen at –4° F (–20° C), and up to three months refrigerated at 36–46° F (2–8° C).

• Develop By- Altimmune

Vaccine name: AdCOVID
Efficacy: Unknown
Dose: 1 dose
Type: Nasal spray
Storage: Refrigerated

Nucleic Acid Vaccine

DNA/RNA is inserted into the human cell which makes a copy of viral protein.

Example for coronavirus vaccine-

• Develop by- Pfizer and BioNTech

Vaccine name: Comirnaty (also known as tozinameran or BNT162b2) Efficacy: 95%
Dose: 2 doses, 3 weeks apart
Type: Muscle injection
Storage: Freezer storage only at –94°F (–70°C)

• Develop by- Moderna and NIH

Vaccine name: mRNA-1273

Efficacy: 94.5%
Dose: 2 doses, 4 weeks apart
Type: Muscle injection
Storage: 30 days with refrigeration, 6 months at –4°F (–20°C)

Protein-Based Vaccine

Scientists take virus protein not the whole virus (Spike protein in SARS-CoV-2) and inject it into humans so that the immune system can easily fight it.

Example for coronavirus vaccine-

• Develop by- Novavax

Vaccine name: NVX-CoV2373
Efficacy: 89.3% against most variants
Dose: 2 doses, 3 weeks apart
Type: Muscle injection
Storage: Stable in refrigerator

References:

https://www.livescience.com/53272-what-is-a-virus.html

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/science/coronavirus-vaccine-tracker.html

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-01221-y