The panel also recommended granting permission to Bharat Biotech for carrying out a study on the interchangeability of its Covaxin and the under-trial adenoviral intranasal vaccine candidate BBV154. (Image Source: Reuters/Jose Cabezas)

India's COVID-19 tally climbed to 3,17,26,507 on Tuesday with 30,549 more people testing positive for the disease while the active caseload declined after six days, according to Union health ministry data.

The death toll climbed to 4,25,195 with 422 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The number of active cases came down to 4,04,958, which comprises 1.28 per cent of the total infections. The national COVID-19 recovery rate increased to 97.38 per cent, it showed.

A decrease of 8,760 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

As many as 16,49,295 COVID-19 tests were conducted on Sunday, taking the total number of tests conducted so far in the country to 47,12,94,789.

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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Coronavirus Update: India reports 30,549 COVID-19 cases, 422 deaths

The death toll climbed to 4,25,195 with 422 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The panel also recommended granting permission to Bharat Biotech for carrying out a study on the interchangeability of its Covaxin and the under-trial adenoviral intranasal vaccine candidate BBV154. (Image Source: Reuters/Jose Cabezas)

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