In the context of vaccines manufactured to prevent COVID-19 pandemic, consider the following stateme

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UPSC Prelims is a competitive examination conducted in India. This question is from the 2022 UPSC Prelims Science & Technology paper.

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Question

In the context of vaccines manufactured to prevent COVID-19 pandemic, consider the following statements:The Serum Institute of India produced COVID-19 vaccine named Covishield using mRNA platform.Sputnik V vaccine is manufactured using vector based platform.COVAXIN is an inactivated pathogen based vaccine.Which of the statements given above are correct?

Accepted Answer

Correct Answer: B — 2 and 3 onlyStep-by-step Solution:Statement 1 — Covishield uses mRNA platform: This is incorrect. Covishield (manufactured by Serum Institute of India under licence from AstraZeneca/Oxford University) is NOT an mRNA vaccine. It is a recombinant adenovirus vector vaccine — specifically using a chimpanzee adenovirus (ChAdOx1) as the vector. The adenovirus is modified to carry the genetic code for the SARS-CoV-2 Spike (S) glycoprotein. Once administered, cells use this genetic code to produce the spike protein, triggering an immune response. mRNA vaccines (like Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna) deliver mRNA directly — which is a completely different technology. ✗Statement 2 — Sputnik V uses vector-based platform: This is correct. Sputnik V (developed by Gamaleya Research Institute, Russia) is an adenovirus vector vaccine — the world's first registered COVID-19 vaccine (August 11, 2020). It uses two different human adenoviruses (Ad26 for the first dose and Ad5 for the second dose) as vectors to deliver the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein gene. The two-vector approach reduces immune response to the vector itself. ✓Statement 3 — COVAXIN is an inactivated pathogen vaccine: This is correct. COVAXIN (developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with ICMR/NIV Pune) is an inactivated (whole-virion) vaccine. It contains the entire SARS-CoV-2 virus, chemically inactivated so it cannot replicate or cause disease. The inactivated virus stimulates the immune system to produce antibodies against the whole virus. It is developed using a Whole-Virion Inactivated Vero Cell-derived platform technology. ✓Why other options are incorrect:Options A, C, and D: Incorrect because statement 1 is wrong.Key Concept: COVID-19 vaccine platforms: mRNA vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna) — deliver mRNA encoding spike protein; Viral vector vaccines (AstraZeneca/Covishield, Sputnik V, J&J/Janssen) — use adenovirus to deliver spike gene; Inactivated vaccines (Covaxin/Bharat Biotech, Sinovac/CoronaVac) — whole killed virus; Protein subunit vaccines (Novavax/Covovax, Corbevax) — spike protein fragments; DNA vaccines (ZyCov-D) — plasmid DNA encoding spike protein.

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