West Bengal government okays daily Delhi-Kolkata direct flights

Earlier, direct flights between Delhi and Kolkata were operated three days a week.

Moneycontrol News

December 14, 2020 / 07:36 PM IST

Planes parked at IGI airport in New Delhi.

The West Bengal government has approved daily direct flights between Delhi and Kolkata. Earlier, direct flights between the two metros were operated three days a week ever since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in the country.

The Trinamool Congress government had on June 4, 2020, banned direct flights to and from Delhi. Apart from this, the state government had also banned direct flights to and fro from five other Covid-19 hotspots including Mumbai.

Passenger flights to Kolkata from 6 corona hotspot cities banned till July 31: Airport

However, with demand rising for direct flights, the state government allowed direct flights on three days a week from September 1. On other days passengers had to opt for connecting flights to reach their destination.

The other destinations where direct flights have been banned by the West Bengal administration are Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Pune and Nashik. Here the flights are allowed on selected days.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

Show