India providing COVID-19 vaccines to over 140 countries will have a "positive impact" on its tourism, said Union Culture and Tourism Minister Prahlad Patel on Friday.

Virtually addressing a ceremony at Kevadia on the lauch of a three-day annual convention of the Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI), hoped that Indian tourism industry will be soon up and running like before, and "climb from the present 34th position to the top spot".

"India, following its age-old philosophy of Vasudhaiva Kutumbkam (the world is one family), is providing vaccines to over 140 countries... This will have a positive impact on the country''s tourism sector, something that is visible right now," said Patel.

Apart from the flights operating under air bubble arrangement, regular international flights has been shut since last year due to the pandemic.

Patel said that domestic travel has witnessed a "major boost" after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the ''Dekho Apna Desh'' campaign.

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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Giving COVID-19 vaccines to 140 nations will have positive impact on India's tourism: Prahlad Patel

Virtually addressing a ceremony at Kevadia on the lauch of a three-day annual convention of the Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (ADTOI), hoped that Indian tourism industry will be soon up and running like before, and "climb from the present 34th position to the top spot".

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