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Prelims 2022 · Q39 · Diseases, vaccines & health

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

  1. 1.The Serum Institute of India produced COVID-19 vaccine named Covishield using mRNA platform.
  2. 2.Sputnik V vaccine is manufactured using vector based platform.
  3. 3.COVAXIN is an inactivated pathogen based vaccine.

Which of the statements given above are correct ?

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Answer: B. Statement 1 is wrong: Covishield (the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine made by Serum Institute) uses a chimpanzee adenovirus vector, not mRNA. Statement 2 is correct: Sputnik V uses two human adenovirus vectors. Statement 3 is correct: COVAXIN by Bharat Biotech uses inactivated (killed) whole virus. So 2 and 3.

Watch for: Students confuse Covishield with Pfizer or Moderna, the well-known mRNA vaccines.

Why the other options are wrong
  • A. Wrong because Covishield is not an mRNA vaccine.
  • C. Wrong because Covishield is a viral vector vaccine.
  • D. Wrong because statement 1 is incorrect.

Source to check: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare COVID-19 vaccine FAQs (mohfw.gov.in); Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute product information

Answer from the official UPSC key. Written and fact-checked by AI against the official key. Spotted a mistake? Report it.