Moneycontrol Selects: Top stories this afternoon

Our specially curated package of the most interesting articles of the day will help you stay at the top of your game.

Moneycontrol News

March 19, 2023 / 01:00 PM IST

A daily round-up of the most interesting articles

Here are our top stories this afternoon:

India reports a single-day rise of over 1,000 COVID-19 cases, active cases climb to 5,915

India saw a single-day rise of more than 1,000 fresh COVID-19 cases after 129 days, pushing up active cases to 5,915. A total of 1,071 new infections were reported in the county in 24 hours, while the death toll increased to 5,30,802 with three fatalities — one each reported in Rajasthan and Maharashtra and one reconciled in Kerala, latest Union health ministry data showed on March 19 morning. Details here.

Internet, SMS services to remain suspended in Punjab till March 20, Amritpal Singh remains elusive

The Punjab government extended the suspension of mobile internet and SMS services to March 20 noon, as the hunt for radical Sikh preacher and Khalistan sympathiser Amritpal Singh continued. The state on March 18 had suspended the internet and SMS services till next day noon. Read more.

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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