Source: Reuters

India’s active COVID-19 caseload dipped to 2,16,558 on Tuesday with its share in the total coronavirus cases reported so far further shrinking to 2.07 percent, according to the Union health ministry.

While India recorded 12,584 new cases of coronavirus in a day, the lowest in around seven months, a net decline of 5,968 cases has been registered during the same period.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,01,11,294, on Tuesday pushing the national COVID-19 recovery rate to 96.49 percent.

The country recorded 167 deaths recorded in a day.

Twenty-five states and Union Territories have less than 5,000 active cases, the ministry highlighted.

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.

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Active COVID-19 cases in India drop to 2.16 lakh, account for 2.07% of total cases

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,01,11,294, on Tuesday pushing the national COVID-19 recovery rate to 96.49 percent.

Source: Reuters

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