Chand Neha, Mathur Rajani, Dwivedi Shridhar
Delhi Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research University
Pushp Vihar, Sec-III, MB Road, New Delhi, INDIA
Abstract
Corona Virus Induced Disease (COVID-19) has emerged as a dreaded pandemic which is a threat to the entire world. It all began in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and rapidly spread over the world. It is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) which is an enveloped virus single-stranded, positive-sensed ribonucleic acid (RNA) virus that enters the host cell lungs via endocytosis or membrane fusion utilizing the ACE-2 receptor. The virus particles release and replicates into new progenies, which causes cytokine storm in some cases by releasing pro-inflammatory mediators into the lungs. It dominantly manifests as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and eventually involves all systems of human body. The pandemic is still going on though intermittently in various parts of the world. As on 15th July 2021, approximately 189 million COVID-19 infected cases have been reported worldwide, with over 4 million individuals dying as a result. In India, so far there are approximately 31 million infected cases and 4 lakhs human lives have been lost. Various antivirals, antibiotics, corticosteroids and other adjuvant therapies were being experimentally employed for COVID-19 prophylaxis and treatment. Many pharmaceutical companies have worked on COVID-19 vaccinations to stop the virus progression and transmission. In several countries, including India, the United States and Russia, the COVID-19 vaccine has already been approved for human use. India has been able to produce two vaccines namely Covaxin and Covishield and launch a massive vaccination drive for people above 18 years adults. Till now approximately, 304 million subjects have been partially vaccinated and 73 million subjects are fully vaccinated .Various other COVID-19 vaccines are in phase 3 of clinical development. Vaccines against covid is a major tool against progression and prevention of covid-19. Key words: Covid-19, Vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin.