COVID-19 outbreak | How long does it take to develop symptoms?

As of October 4, India has recorded over 65 lakh cases and 1 lakh deaths during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Moneycontrol News

October 05, 2020 / 09:16 IST

Nearly seven months after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic, new information continues to emerge about the disease.

However, there appears to be some consensus on information related to how long it can take to develop symptoms after exposure to the novel coronavirus.

The incubation period of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is believed to be as long as 14 days. Symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, loss of taste and/or smell, and diarrhoea.

"The time between exposure to COVID-19 and the moment when symptoms start is commonly around five to six days but can range from 1 – 14 days," the WHO said on its website.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said symptoms can appear 2-14 days after exposure to the virus.

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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