COVOVAX COVID-19 VACCINE.
                     COVOVAX COVID-19 
VACCINE
What is Covovax?
• This is SII’s version of NVX-CoV2373, the protein-based Covid-19 vaccine 
developed by Novavax, headquarte.red in USA
Source: indianexpress.com
Supply of Vaccine
• In August 2020, the two companies announced an agreement under which Novavax had 
given SII the license to manufacture and supply the vaccine in low- and middle-income 
countries as well as India. 
• The agreement is expected to support the supply of a minimum of 1 billion doses of this 
vaccine in these regions.
Source: indianexpress.com
HOW DOES COVOVAX WORK?
• Like several other Covid-19 vaccines, Covovax targets the spike protein on the surface of the 
SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus the protein that allows the virus to penetrate the human cell. 
• Novavax has achieved this is by engineering copies of the spike protein in the lab using the 
cells of a moth.
Source: indianexpress.com
Modified spike genes 
• Modified spike genes are placed in a baculovirus, which is known to infect insects. This virus 
is then used to infect the moth cells, carrying the spike gene into the cell. 
• The cells then create the spike proteins, which are harvested. After they are purified, a 
certain dosage of these spike proteins are used as the vaccine.
Source: indianexpress.com
Build Immunity
• Once a person is given a shot of this vaccine, their body is expected to recognise these 
copies of the spike proteins as a foreign substance and build immunity against them. When 
the real virus tries to infect the cell, the body is expected to be able to fight it off.
Source: indianexpress.com
What is the efficacy of Covovax?
• The vaccine recently showed an efficacy of 96.4% against mild to severe disease caused by 
the original strain of SARS-CoV-2 from ongoing late-stage global trials. 
• It has also managed an efficacy of around 83.4% two weeks after the first dose potentially 
promising finding at a time when vaccine makers might face hurdles in scaling up supplies.
Source: indianexpress.com
Comparison with other vaccine
• Compared with this, Covishield has an efficacy around 53% when the second dose is given 
less than six weeks after the first dose, which is the regimen followed in India. 
• The efficacy of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, which Covishield is based on, varies based 
on the duration between the first and second shots and can go to nearly 79% if the gap is 12 
weeks or longer.
Source: indianexpress.com
Safety Test of Covovax
• SII is expected to test the safety of Covovax using 1,600 participants in 19 sites across Delhi, 
UP, Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Puducherry, Odisha, Karnataka and West Bengal. 
• These participants will be between the ages of 18-99 years are supposed to be medically 
declared as healthy volunteers without acute illnesses.
Source: indianexpress.com
Are there constraints in making Covovax?
• According to Poonawalla, the ability of vaccine makers to scale up production is expected to 
be impacted by the decision of countries like the US to indulge in raw material nationalism 
during this pandemic.
Source: indianexpress.com
Stockpile of Covovax
• SII plans to stockpile Covovax starting April and was reportedly targeting upwards of 40-50 
mn doses a month. It is unclear whether this capacity will be impacted because of this issue.
Source: indianexpress.com