The Government of India launched the ‘Mission COVID Suraksha’, a development program for Indian candidates and researchers working on the COVID-19 vaccine. Under this mission, the Government would facilitate the clinical development, manufacturing and licensing of Indian vaccines to curb the virus attack. 

Mission COVID Suraksha [UPSC Notes]:-Download PDF Here

In this article, we shall discuss at length the budget released for this mission, along with the objectives and the COVID vaccines which are being developed in India. This is also important from the perspective of the upcoming Government and Administrative exams. 

Candidates preparing for the IAS Exam can expect questions based on the Novel Coronavirus, its vaccines, affects, etc. in the GS-2 and GS-3 paper under Government Policies, welfare schemes, Science and Technology, and Indian achievements part of the paper. 

What is Mission COVID Suraksha?

• The Government of India has sanctioned Rs.900 crores for the Phase I of the Mission COVID Suraksha, for a period of 12 months
• This mission will accelerate the development of approximately 5-6 vaccines for coronavirus. However, a total of 10 vaccine candidates have been supported by DBT till now
• Complete focus on the preclinical and clinical development of the vaccine is to be taken care of, for quick release and to restrict any further spread of the Novel coronavirus in the country
• With an end-to-end focus from preclinical development through clinical development and manufacturing and regulatory facilitation for deployment, would consolidate all available and funded resources towards an accelerated product development
• The grant for Research and Development (R&D) of the Indian COVID-19 vaccine will be provided by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT)
• It will be implemented by a dedicated Mission Implementation Unit at the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC)

Development of an indigenous, affordable and accessible vaccine to curb the spread of the coronavirus is one of the biggest targets which the Government of the country aims to achieve. The success of this mission will complement the Indian aspiration of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. 

Also, read Coronavirus & Impact on Economy: RSTV – Big Picture

Objectives of Mission COVID Suraksha

The main objectives of this mission include:

• Funding the candidate vaccines with their testing, manufacturing, licensing, and distribution in the market
• Establishing clinical trial sites, strengthening the existing laboratories, and assisting with the internal and external quality management system
• Supporting the development of common harmonized protocols, training, data management systems, and regulatory submissions
• Capabilities for process development, cell line development and manufacturing of GMP batches for animal toxicology studies and clinical trials will also be supported under the Mission
• The development of a suitable Target Product Profile is another key element of the mission. This will ensure that the vaccines being introduced through the mission have preferred characteristics applicable to India

UPSC aspirants can get a comprehensive List of Government Schemes in India at the linked article. 

During the pandemic period of COVID-19, many other important initiatives have been taken by the Government of India and other affected countries. Candidates can refer to the links below and get detailed information about such programmes, policies, initiatives, and schemes:

Candidates for COVID-19 Vaccine

Each vaccine which is being created across the world to restrict the spread of the Novel coronavirus has to go through a clinical trial. As discussed earlier, a total of 10 vaccines were being administered under the COVID Suraksha mission, but a few of them have managed to reach the human trials phase. 

This is to ensure that the drug is safe for medicinal purposes and shall not have any ill effect over the patients. Discussed below are the COVID vaccines which have been successful to reach the human trial stage:

• Sputnik V
  • Named after the first artificial Earth satellite, Sputnik-I, it is the first vaccine to have been approved and ready to use
  • The vaccine was registered by Russia
• Covaxin
  • It is an Indian vaccine and has been developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)
• ZyCoV-D
  • This Indian vaccine has been developed by a pharmaceutical company named Zydus
  • This vaccine has been developed in association with the  National Biopharma Mission of Department of Biotechnology (DBT)
• BNT162b2
  • This COVID-19 vaccine is developed by Pfizer, which is an American pharmaceutical company
  • It is one of the few vaccines which have proven to be almost successful in preventing COVID
  • Pfizer has been able to conduct all the trial effectively and start its market distribution within a few months from the time of its development

Apart from the ones mentioned above, a few other COVID-19 vaccine candidates which have not been very successful have been given below:

1. AZD1222  by University of Oxford
2. Ad5-nCoV by Beijing Institute of Biotechnology
3. Ad26.COV2.S by Johnson & Johnson
4. CoVLPs by Government of Canada and Quebec

All activities with regard to the spread of Wuhan coronavirus, vaccines, precautions, etc. have been administered by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Candidates willing to know in detail about this body can visit the linked article.

Mission COVID Suraksha [UPSC Notes]:-Download PDF Here

Candidates preparing for the upcoming Civil Services Exam can get the detailed UPSC Syllabus and exam pattern at the linked article.

For any further exam updates, study material, notes, preparation strategy, etc. aspirants can turn to BYJU’S for expert assistance.