Indian COVID vaccine that can withstand up to 100 degrees Celsius | Fusion - WeRIndia

The world is still under the fangs of COVID-19. Though its effect seems to be receded for some time, the number of COVID-19 cases is rising again.

The number of COVID-19 cases has been increasing in India for the past few days.  India saw a massive rise in its daily cases.

In this scenario, COVID-19 vaccines seem to be effective in controlling the pandemic and its effects to some extent.

Many developing countries are struggling to administer vaccines to their entire population. There are many reasons for this. The cost, cold chain storage facilities etc., are some of them.  A very low percentage of their population has been vaccinated in low-income countries.

In this situation, India is developing a heat-stable COVID vaccine while generating a strong antibody response against different coronavirus variants, like Delta and Omicron.

The heat-stable vaccine can withstand temperatures up to 100 degrees Celsius. Hence, it does not need cold chain storage, which will be useful for developing nations where the facilities are lacking.

The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru and Mynvax, a biotech start-up company, developed the vaccine. They conducted a study on mice to know its efficacy.

The vaccine uses a part of the viral spike protein, through which the virus can connect with the host cell to infect it.

Many COVID-19 vaccines require refrigeration to work effectively. In other words, to keep the effectiveness of these vaccines, they need to be stored in refrigerators.

However, the heat-stable vaccine can be stored at 37 degrees Celsius for four weeks. It even can withstand a temperature of up to 100 degrees Celsius for up to 90 minutes.

Besides, the Mynvax vaccine has been proved to be effective against Delta and Omicron variants of COVID-19. The researchers said that the vaccine showed promising results in mice and the values for a reduction in neutralisation against Delta and Omicron.

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