Which first vaccine prepared by India for COVID-19?

NORCET 2 - 2021 (shift-1)

Applied Microbiology & Infection control

Easy

Appeared in: NORCET 2 - 2021 (shift-1)

Explanation

Covaxin was India's first indigenous COVID-19 vaccine, meaning it was developed and manufactured entirely within the country.
It is a whole-virion inactivated virus vaccine, a traditional and well-established platform for vaccine development.
The development was a joint effort by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech International Limited, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), and the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune.

Option A: Moderna is an mRNA vaccine developed and produced by the American company Moderna, Inc. It was not prepared in India.
Option B: Covishield was manufactured in India by the Serum Institute of India (SII), but it was developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca in the UK. Therefore, it is not an indigenous Indian vaccine.
Option C: Sputnik V is a viral vector vaccine developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Russia. It was imported for use in India.

Visual 1: Table: A comparative table showing different COVID-19 vaccines (Covaxin, Covishield, Sputnik V, Moderna), their developers, country of origin, and vaccine type (inactivated virus, viral vector, mRNA). This helps clarify the key differences at a glance.

Clinical Relevance

Nursing practice connection: This is primarily an exam-oriented knowledge point with limited direct bedside application, so retain India's Indigenous COVID-19 Vaccine Development as background academic context rather than a clinical decision trigger.
Understanding the origin of vaccines is important for public health awareness and recognizing national contributions to science.
Indigenous vaccine development, like that of Covaxin, is crucial for a country's self-reliance during a pandemic, ensuring timely availability and control over the supply chain.
What if the question asked for the world's first DNA plasmid vaccine for COVID-19? In that case, the answer would be ZyCoV-D, another vaccine developed in India by Zydus Cadila, which was approved after Covaxin.

How to Approach the Question

First, analyze the question to identify the key requirements. The keywords are 'first vaccine' and 'prepared by India'.
The phrase 'prepared by India' implies indigenous development, not just local manufacturing of a foreign-developed vaccine.
Evaluate each option based on its origin and developer.
Recall or look up that Moderna is from the USA and Sputnik V is from Russia, eliminating them.
Differentiate between Covishield and Covaxin. Covishield was developed by Oxford-AstraZeneca (UK) and manufactured by the Serum Institute of India. Covaxin was developed by Bharat Biotech (India) in collaboration with ICMR.
Based on the 'prepared by India' criterion, Covaxin is the correct choice as it was the first indigenously developed vaccine.

Concept Tested & Keywords

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