Editor's Pick: A booster dose of vaccines

Two more vaccines and a drug have been approved by India to join the fight against the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Corbevax from Hyderabad-based Biological E, Covovax from the Serum Institute and Molnupiravir from Merck have been given Emergency Use Authorisation, according to the Health Ministry. Corbevax, codeveloped by Biological E, Baylor College of Medicine, and Dynavax Technologies, is a protein subunit vaccine that uses a specific protein from the coronavirus to trigger an immune response in humans. Covovax, which the Serum Institute is producing under licence from Novavax, uses recombinant nanoparticle technology, in which the spike protein of the coronavirus is introduced into the body in nanoparticle form to trigger an immune response. The Molnupiravir tablet, which will be manufactured by 13 drugmakers in India, has been found to be highly effective in preventing COVID-19 from advancing into a severe form. Corbevax and Covovax will join Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik V as the vaccines approved for use in India. Of the two new ones, however, only Covovax has Emergency Use approval from the WHO. The WHO approval, which Covishield and Covaxin also have, eases international travel for the vaccine recipients, and also makes them available globally. The exact results from the phase 3 trials of Corbevax are also not known, though it has been announced as safe and effective. The Indian government has, however, placed an order for 300 million doses of Corbevax, enabling Biological E to ramp up production. This raises the possibility that the confusion that existed over Covaxin before it received WHO authorisation could arise over Corbevax also. However, India no longer faces the vaccine supply crunch that exacerbated the Covaxin problem. This, along with what Molnupiravir will mean for management of COVID-19 cases in India, is what makes this story important. The Hindu Editorials Falling short: On action against violence in the name of religion Trade defence: On anti-dumping duty on Chinese goods Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor's Pick and more. Click here Try out The Hindu's daily news quiz Who has been appointed Deputy National Security Adviser (Dy NSA)? 1. Vikram Misri 2. Pankaj Saran 3. Shekhar Dutt 4. Nehchal Sandhu To find out the answer and play the full quiz, click here. [logo] Editor's Pick 29 DECEMBER 2021 [The Hindu logo] In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [Arrow]( [Open in browser]( [Mail icon]( [More newsletters]( A booster dose of vaccines [A booster dose of vaccines] [Two more vaccines and a drug]( have been approved by India to join the fight against the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Corbevax from Hyderabad-based Biological E, Covovax from the Serum Institute and Molnupiravir from Merck have been given Emergency Use Authorisation, according to the Health Ministry. Corbevax, codeveloped by Biological E, Baylor College of Medicine, and Dynavax Technologies, is a protein subunit vaccine that uses a specific protein from the coronavirus to trigger an immune response in humans. Covovax, which the Serum Institute is producing under licence from Novavax, uses recombinant nanoparticle technology, in which the spike protein of the coronavirus is introduced into the body in nanoparticle form to trigger an immune response. The Molnupiravir tablet, which will be manufactured by 13 drugmakers in India, has been found to be highly effective in preventing COVID-19 from advancing into a severe form. Corbevax and Covovax will join Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik V as the vaccines approved for use in India. Of the two new ones, however, only Covovax has Emergency Use approval from the WHO. The WHO approval, which Covishield and Covaxin also have, eases international travel for the vaccine recipients, and also makes them available globally.  The exact results from the phase 3 trials of Corbevax are also not known, though it has been announced as safe and effective. The Indian government has, however, [placed an order for 300 million doses of Corbevax]( enabling Biological E to ramp up production. This raises the possibility that the confusion that existed over Covaxin before it received WHO authorisation could arise over Corbevax also. However, India no longer faces the vaccine supply crunch that exacerbated the Covaxin problem. This, along with what Molnupiravir will mean for management of COVID-19 cases in India, is what makes this story important. 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