There are over a 100 vaccine candidates for COVID-19 currently under development and the urgency of the pandemic has meant that many of them have accelerated the process of going in for human trials. In some cases, vaccine manufacturers have already announced tie-ups with some labs for mass production before final approvals have arrived. This unprecedented race to find a vaccine has brought to light the various technologies and methods that go into developing a vaccine, some of them so new that the contender in question has never produced a licensed vaccine before. In this episode we break down the methods of vaccine development currently being tested — differentiating between the “traditional” and “new age”. We also address the question of which immunisation strategy India should employ if and when a vaccine becomes freely available.

Guest: E. Sreekumar, senior scientist, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Thiruvananthapuram.

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