What is the basic principle behind vaccine development? How do vaccines work? What approaches were adopted by the Indian vaccine manufacturers to produce COVID-19 vaccines?

Theme

T110 Pandemics & global health: COVID-19, WHO, vaccines

What UPSC asks in this theme

UPSC asks about WHO's performance in COVID-19, how vaccines work and the platforms Indian manufacturers used, and technology for pandemic management.

What to cover

• WHO: IHR, delays, funding dependence, pandemic treaty
• Vaccine principle: antigen and immune memory; platforms (inactivated, viral vector, mRNA, DNA)
• Indian vaccines: Covaxin, Covishield, ZyCoV-D; Vaccine Maitri
• Technology: CoWIN, Aarogya Setu, genome sequencing (INSACOG), telemedicine (eSanjeevani)

Writing the answer

• Combine science (GS3) with governance (GS2)

These notes are for the whole theme, built from all 3 of its PYQs. UPSC does not publish model answers.