Question

The indigenous vaccine, Covaxin against SARS Coronavirus-2 contains

• A. the mRNA expressing viral spike protein
• B. inactivated whole virions
• C. the purified viral envelope protein
• D. the DNA coding for viral spike protein

Hint:

Covaxin is based on traditional inactivated virus technology — safe and proven, unlike mRNA or DNA approaches.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Step 1: Understand what Covaxin is.
Covaxin is an indigenous COVID-19 vaccine developed in India by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and National Institute of Virology (NIV).

Step 2: Identify the vaccine type.
Covaxin is an inactivated virus vaccine. This means it contains whole virions (entire virus particles) that have been inactivated or killed so they cannot cause disease but still provoke an immune response.

Step 3: Compare with other vaccine types.
mRNA-based vaccines (like Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna) use option (1).
DNA-based vaccines are still under development; Covaxin is not one.
Protein subunit vaccines (like Novavax) would use purified viral proteins, not the whole virus.

Step 4: Conclusion.
Since Covaxin uses inactivated whole virus particles, option (2) is correct.