Even as India recorded 1,94,720 fresh Covid-19 cases and 442 deaths on Wednesday, the Union Health Ministry showcased the analysis of mRNA vaccines in New York to point out that a fully-vaccinated population had between 90.2% and 95.7% lower chance of being hospitalised with Covid-19 as compared to the unvaccinated population. The Ministry’s joint secretary Lav Agarwal contended that this showed the effectiveness of vaccines against the infection.In India, however, the Union government has not begun administering any mRNA vaccine such as Pfizer or Moderna or a non-mRNA vaccine alternative Covovax. India either administers Covishield, which is an adeno-vector vaccine, or Covaxin, an inactivated virus vaccine.Messenger RNA vaccines work by introducing a piece of mRNA that corresponds to a viral protein. Using this, cells produce the viral protein. As part of a normal immune response, the immune system recognises that the protein is foreign and produces specialized proteins called antibodies.Earlier, a Union government health expert stated that booster vaccine doses won’t stop the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of the virus as it is “almost unstoppable and eventually everyone will get it”.
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