NEW DELHI : Scientists from the department of biotechnology are working with manufacturers Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech on next generation covid-19 vaccines—a single dose without any need for boosters to protect against new variants. “Our aim is that these next generation covid vaccines should not be repeated with multiple doses.
Only one vaccine dose should be enough to provide long- lasting immunity and should be able to protect from future viruses. While some pharma companies are planning to develop strain-specific vaccines, others are doing research to develop bivalent vaccines (by mixing one or two viruses).
A lot of research and development is being done on these lines," said an official from the health ministry. A spokesperson at Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech said, “Bharat Biotech team is actively working and developing next generation covid vaccines.
Bivalent vaccines, intranasal vaccines, etc are under development." A single catch-all vaccine may help countries avoid situations of vaccine avoidance.