The MFDS announced today (4th) that AstraZeneca Korea's application for item approval for COVID-19 vaccine (code name: AZD1222) has been received. This vaccine is a 'viral vector vaccine' manufactured by putting COVID-19 surface antigen gene into a chimpanzee adenovirus vector.

Viral vector vaccines are manufactured by inserting viral antigen genes that cause infectious diseases into other viral genes used as carriers and mass-producing them.

AstraZeneca vaccine uses adenovirus, which only infects chimpanzees, as a carrier to deliver COVID-19 surface antigen gene into human cells, and the delivered COVID-19 antigen gene synthesizes antigen proteins in the body to induce the production of