Impact of SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic and Vaccination Drive
A new SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern (VoC), omicron, was revealed on November 25, 2021, roughly 2 years after the first recorded case of COVID-19 and after an estimated 260 million infections and 52 million fatalities worldwide. Omicron was born into a COVID-19-weary world, replete with rage and resentment at the pandemic’s extensive detrimental social, emotional, and economic consequences. Although earlier VoCs appeared in a world where natural immunity to COVID-19 infections was frequent, this fifth VoC appears at a time when global vaccination immunity is developing. The advent of the alpha, beta, and delta SARS-CoV- VoCs was linked to additional waves of illnesses, which spread throughout the globe at times.
Because of its capacity to evade natural immunity, the delta VoC’s greater transmissibility was linked with, among other things, a larger viral load, longer duration of infectiousness, and high rates of reinfection, resulting in the delta VoC fast becoming the worldwide prevalent variety. The appearance of the alpha, beta, and delta SARS-CoV-2 VoCs was linked to fresh waves of illnesses, which spread throughout the globe at times. Because of its capacity to evade natural immunity,6 the delta VoC’s greater transmissibility was linked with, among other things, a larger viral load,4 longer duration of infectiousness, and high rates of reinfection, resulting in the delta VoC becoming the worldwide prevalent variety quickly. Vaccination drives have been ramped up across the country and now, there are more vaccines available for use. With the latest approval being granted to Moderna Inc’s, novel mRNA vaccine, India now has four vaccines in its ambit. The four vaccines which have received emergency use authorization (EUA) in India are all made using different platforms. If you are yet to get vaccinated, here’s a comparison of the different vaccines we have today!
| Parameters | Covishield | Covaxin | Sputnik V | Moderna |
| Number of Doses | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Second Dose | 12 weeks apart. | 4 to 6 weeks | 3 weeks | 4 weeks |
| Third Dose | When a person's immune response likely hasn't responded fully (For 18+ only) | |||
| Approved for ages | 15+ Years | 18+ Years | 18+ Years | 18+ Years |
| Effectiveness against death | 1 | |||
| WHO Recommendation | 2021-02-15 00:00:00 | 2021-11-03 00:00:00 | Not Yet | 2021-04-30 00:00:00 |
| Available in India? | Yes | |||
| Type of Vaccine | Viral vector | Inactive viral strain | Weakened strain of the common cold virus | mRNA |
| Efficacy Rate | efficacy rate of 70%, which can be scaled up to 91% | 78%, additionally providing 100% protection | an efficacy rate of 78.6% to 83.7% | an efficacy rate of over 91% |
| Price | NA | 1200 | 950-1200 | SOON (higher) |
| Common Side effects | Reactogenic and resolve in a matter of 2-3 days | Fewer side-effects | Fewer side-effects | Reactogenic and resolve in a matter of 2-3 days |
| Effective against Delta Variant | 65% with the Delta variant | Covaxin (61%) | insignificant | 97.5% (92.7% to 99.2%) prior to infection |
| Effective against Omicron Variant (as said by makers) | Third Booster Dose Required | Third Booster dose (90%) | 10-15 % decline in efficacy | Third Booster Dose Required Significant increase in efficacy |
Equitable access to safe and effective vaccines is critical to ending the COVID-19 pandemic, so it is hugely encouraging to see so many vaccines proving and going into development. WHO is working tirelessly with partners to develop, manufacture and deploy safe and effective vaccines. Safe and effective vaccines are a game-changing tool: but for the foreseeable future we must continue wearing masks, cleaning our hands, ensuring good ventilation indoors, physically distancing and avoiding crowds. Being vaccinated does not mean that we can throw caution to the wind and put ourselves and others at risk, particularly because research is still ongoing into how much vaccines protect not only against disease but also against infection and transmission.
Author: Er. Bhanu Pratap Chauhan | Jan’ 2022
M.Tech, Biotechnology, Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Noida, INDIA.