HomeNewscoronavirusA UV disinfection tower - DRDO's latest innovation - to tackle COVID-19: Report

A UV disinfection tower - DRDO's latest innovation - to tackle COVID-19: Report

DRDO's Delhi based laboratory Laser Science and Technology Centre (Lastec) has come up with the innovation, which has been named UV Blaster.

May 04, 2020 / 20:24 IST
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The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has introduced another potential weapon in the battle against coronavirus-- an ultraviolet disinfection tower, according to a report in Hindustan Times.

Officials told HT that the UV tower can be put to use to sanitise high-risk areas that see a relatively higher number of people. The chemical-free disinfection technique can thus be used to make offices, malls, airports factories and other such areas virus-free.

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DRDO's Delhi based laboratory Laser Science and Technology Centre (Lastec) has come up with the innovation, which has been named UV Blaster. The report noted that the blaster can sanitise an area of around 400 square feet in about 30 minutes. What's more, it can be used remotely, by linking it to devices like phones and laptops via Wi-Fi.

COVID-19 Vaccine
Frequently Asked Questions

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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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