India approves world’s first DNA vaccine against COVID

India has approved a new COVID vaccine that uses circular strands of DNA to prime the immune system against the virus SARS-CoV-2, Report informs referring to Nature.

Researchers have welcomed news of the first DNA vaccine for people to receive approval anywhere in the world and say many other DNA vaccines may soon be hot on its heels.

ZyCoV-D, which is administered into the skin without an injection, has been found to be 67 percent protective against symptomatic COVID-19 in clinical trials and will likely start to be administered in India this month.

Although the efficacy is not particularly high compared to that of many other COVID-19 vaccines, the fact that it is a DNA vaccine is significant, say, researchers.

“If DNA vaccines prove to be successful, this is really the future of vaccinology” because they are easy to manufacture, says Shahid Jameel, a virologist at Ashoka University in Sonipat, India.

ZyCoV-D was developed by Indian pharmaceutical firm Zydus Cadila, headquartered in Ahmedabad. On August 20, India’s drug regulator authorized the vaccine for people aged 12 and older.