India’s drugs regulator, Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), has given nod to Mumbai-based Cipla to import the COVID-19 vaccine developed by the US-based Moderna. This will be the fourth vaccine to be rolled out in India after AstraZeneca’s Covishield, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin and Russia’s Sputnik V.

Here are key questions answered about Moderna’s COVID jab:

Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine is of what type?

It is a messenger RNA (mRNA)-based vaccine, which means that it depends on the mRNA to program cells to generate immunity to the coronavirus. Pfizer’s is another vaccine that is based on mRNA.

Also read: Can Pfizer or Moderna mRNA COVID vaccines affect my genetic code?

How many doses are needed?

Moderna’s is a two-dose COVID vaccine.

How effective is it?

It showed the efficacy of 94.1% against symptomatic, laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 after administering the two doses.

Are there any side effects?

As per the US CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), the common side effects of the vaccine include tiredness, headache, muscle pain, chills, fever and nausea.

Does Moderna’s vaccine work against variants?

The vaccine has shown to protect against the Alpha (first detected in the UK) and Beta ( first detected in South Africa) variants. However, more information is needed regarding its efficacy against other COVID variants. 

Other than India, which countries have approved Moderna’s COVID vaccine?

The jab has been approved by over 50 countries, which include the US, UK, France, Israel, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Qatar, Sweden, Italy, Canada and Germany.  

Also read: Do we need a booster COVID shot? Scientists at work

Meanwhile, India, which started its mass vaccination drive on January 16, has administered 32,90,29,510 doses of COVID vaccine, the second-highest in the world, after China.