There are many differences between the Red and White Vaccines and Sinovac

On the other hand, Indonesia is also developing a domestic vaccine called the Red and White vaccine. Compared to the Sinovac vaccine, the Red and White vaccine has not yet entered stage three clinical trials. The Red and White Vaccine in its development was carried out by the Eijkman and Biofarma Institute of Molecular Biology (LBM).

To explore the development of the two vaccines, Jakarta Newspapers interviewed the Chairman of Eijkman, Amin Soebandrio. The following are excerpts from the interview.

Can you explain the difference between the Sinovac vaccine and the Red and White vaccine?

In general, of course there is a difference. The Sinovac vaccine developed by Sinovac uses the whole virus. The process is also shorter, but risky because you have to breed large numbers of viruses.

After being cultured, it is killed by chemical or any means. After being purified, the virus as a whole can be used for direct vaccines.

As for the red and white vaccine itself, what is the development like?

The Red and White vaccine was developed using subparticles of the Covid-19 virus. So only the parts.

For example if a virus attaches itself to humans through spike or thorns, nah it’s protein spikethat we use as antigens.

Simply put, the vaccine is not taken directly from the virus. We’ll just take genetic information. That’s what we make the antigen.

Why does the development of the Red and White vaccine take longer?

So, the process does take longer than the Sinovac vaccine. Because we use the recombinant method in order to minimize the potential reaction needed.

Although it is long, there are advantages to developing a vaccine with this method. If we use the virus as a whole, the potential for reactions to other viral components will occur. That diminisasi and the process takes longer.

What efforts are being made to accelerate the development of the Red and White vaccine so that it can be produced?

We have made various efforts and continue to try. But there are parts that must be understood together, such as if there is a growth of the virus we should not force the vaccine quickly because there is a process of rapid growth that we must follow.

For example, if the cells have to grow within three days, but we have stopped developing in two days, the vaccine product is not optimal and it is feared that it will have a bad effect. So its development inevitably keeps up with the growth rate of those tiny living creatures.

Apart from the lab process, what other accelerations are being made for the Red and White vaccine?

Another thing is administration. We are doing that so that the administrative procedures can be shortened. So under normal conditions the clinical trial could take years, hopefully we can finish it within a year. muh aden ma’arup / P-4

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