Fresh COVID infections down 16% in a day, active cases decline 12%

The pandemic is fading fast as evident from the continuous fall in daily infections, active cases and test positivity rate

Sumi Sukanya Dutta

February 18, 2022 / 09:38 IST

The country registered 25,920 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, 15.7 per cent lower than a day before, taking the tally of total coronavirus cases to 4,27,80,235.

India’s active COVID-19 caseload came under the three lakh mark at 2,92,092 on February 18 as active cases declined 12.2 per cent in 24 hours.

Kerala, the only state in India with over one lakh active cases, registered the sharpest fall of 14,371 in a day.

Barring Lakshadweep which recorded a rise of one case, all other states and union territories continued to witness a decline in active cases.

A total of 492 new coronavirus deaths were reported of which 193 were backlog deaths recorded by Kerala as part of its data reconciliation exercise. The state also registered the highest fatalities in the 24-hour period at 126.

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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