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Vaccines and immunisation
India's newest immunisation push is against a cancer: the National Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination Campaign has given more than 80 lakh single doses to 14 year old girls between February and September 2026. The research frontier is elsewhere, in a protein based pneumococcal candidate that protected mice across serotypes, aimed at the serotype replacement that limits the conjugate vaccines now in use.
UPSC has asked
- Prelims 2020: why Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccines matter in India
Why a universal pneumococcal vaccine is wanted
Capsule varies
The capsular polysaccharide, a sugary coat, differs by serotype
Partial vaccines
Existing vaccines protect only against the serotypes they include
Serotype replacement
Other serotypes, many carrying antibiotic resistance genes, fill the space
- Streptococcus pneumoniae causes pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis when immunity weakens.
The two kinds already in use
Plain polysaccharide
- Example: Pneumovax 23
- Works poorly in infants
- Short lived protection
Pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV)
- Polysaccharide linked to a carrier protein
- Stronger, longer response
- The number in PCV13 gives the serotypes covered
HPV and the campaign against cervical cancer
- HPV types 16 and 18 cause most cervical cancers.
- Vaccinating girls before exposure prevents the cancer rather than treating it.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) accepted in 2022 that one dose protects girls of this age about as well as two, which makes a one visit campaign workable.
- The National HPV Vaccination Campaign, launched in February 2026, offers 14 year old girls a single free and voluntary dose at government health facilities.
- Coverage is tracked district by district on U-WIN.
What has happened
11 Sep 2026
More than 80 lakh doses had been given under the National HPV Vaccination Campaign by 11 September 2026, seven months after it was launched.
- About 1.2 crore girls turn 14 each year, which is the cohort the campaign has to reach.
3 Sep 2026
British scientists reported ZPY-CpG-Ch, a protein based pneumococcal candidate found by reverse vaccinology.
- It carries three surface proteins shared across serotypes, with synthetic DNA (CpG) and chitosan as adjuvants.
- 80 to 100 per cent of mice survived lethal serotype 1, comparable to PCV13, but only four serotypes were tested.
- It did not clear bacteria from the upper airways, so infection could still spread.