Painless And Needle-Free: India Becomes First Country To Administer DNA Vaccine For COVID-19

India has ticked off yet another benchmark, apart from undertaking the World's largest vaccination drive. The country has become the first to administer a DNA vaccine for the deadly COVID-19. Within a short span of 24 hours, the government had also recorded the reduction of 1,03,921 cases in the active COVID-19. Moreover, the Union Health Ministry data revealed that India had improved the national vaccination rate to 95.64 per cent. The Union Government had approved the emergency use authorization of Zydus Cadila's DNA vaccine earlier this year.

The initial results from the Phase 3 trials of the vaccine showed 66 per cent efficacy in symptomatic COVID cases.

Who Developed ZyCoV-D?

The ZyCoV-D, the World's first plasmid DNA vaccine, was produced by Ahmedabad-based vaccine manufacturer Zydus Cadila and is administered for the first time in Patna, WION reported. The Drugs Controller General of India approved vaccines for children aged 12 to 17 years. Unlike most other vaccines, which require mainly two doses, ZyCoV-D is administered in three doses, and the subsequent doses should be administered at an interval of 28 and 56 days.

Zydus Cadila's vaccine, developed in partnership with the Department of Biotechnology, is the second home-grown shot to get emergency authorization in India after Bharat Biotech's Covaxin.

What Are DNA Vaccines?

The global health watchdog, the World Health Organization (WHO), explains DNA vaccines as third-generation vaccines because they use engineered DNA to induce immunogenic responses in the host against bacteria, parasites, viruses, and potentially cancer. Such vaccines provide the host with immunity by inducing antigen-specific adaptive immune responses in a naive host.

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