Canada Approves World’s First Plant-Based COVID-19 Vaccine

 "Medicago, the Quebec-based pharmaceutical company behind the plant-based jab, has agreed to supply the Canadian government with 76 million doses of the vaccine as soon as possible. Medicago uses Nicotiana benthamiana, a close relative of the tobacco plant, to manufacture virus-like particles that mimic SARS-CoV-2’s spike protein but don’t cause infection or disease. The particles are then harvested from the plants, purified, and combined with an immune-boosting adjuvant—made by British pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline—to make the vaccine. The virus-like particles can be stored in a refrigerator at two to eight degrees celsius, unlike the mRNA vaccines that require extremely cold storage. According to the Associated Press, Canadian officials based their decision on a study of 24,000 adults across six countries. The study found that the vaccine was 75.3 percent effective against the Delta variant of the virus, and 71 percent effective against all coronavirus variants except Omicron, which was not prevalent when the study was underway. Side effects of the vaccine were reported to be mild and included fever and fatigue. The vaccine works best when the two doses are given 21 days apart."

Article continued at: https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/canada-approves-world-s-first-plant-based-covid-19-vaccine-69745