Source: Twitter/@nsitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman received her first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at Fortis Hospital in Vasant Kunj in Delhi on March 4.

The finance minister said that she was fortunate to be in India, where development and dissemination had been prompt and affordable.

"Got my first dose of the vaccination against COVID-19 this morning. Thanking sister Ramya PC, for her care and professionalism. Fortunate to be in India, where development and dissemination has been prompt and affordable," FM Sitharaman Tweeted.

Got my first dose of the vaccination against COVID-19 this morning. Thanking sister Ramya PC, for her care and professionalism. Fortunate to be in India, where development and dissemination has been prompt and affordable. #vaccinated pic.twitter.com/4ejylZdv1U

— Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) March 4, 2021

India began the third and the largest phase of vaccination drive against COVID-19 on March 1, which will reach out to around 27 crore of population aged above 60 or above 45 with comorbid conditions.

Till now, President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan have already been vaccinated against COVID-19.

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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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gets COVID-19 vaccine

She is fortunate to be in India, where development and dissemination has been prompt and affordable, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.

Source: Twitter/@nsitharaman

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