With 35,499 more people testing positive for COVID-19, India's infection tally now stands at 3,19,69,954, while the death toll climbed to 4,28,309 with 447 fresh fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry on Monday.

The number of active cases has declined to 4,02,188 which comprise 1.27 percent of the total infections, and the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 97.39 percent, data updated by the ministry at 8 am showed.

A decrease of 4,634 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours, it showed.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,11,39,457, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.34 percent, the data stated.

As many as 13,71,871 COVID-19 tests were conducted in the country on Sunday, taking the total number of such examinations so far to 48,17,67,232.

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 records 35,499 new COVID-19 cases, 447 deaths

The number of active cases has declined to 4,02,188 which comprise 1.27 percent of the total infections, and the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 97.39 percent, data updated by the ministry at 8 am showed.

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