Ex-PM Manmohan Singh tests positive for COVID-19, admitted to AIIMS

A day earlier, Singh had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the current coronavirus situation in the country.

Moneycontrol News

April 19, 2021 / 19:12 IST

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh tested positive for COVID-19 on April 19. He was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, after he was found infected with the contagious disease.

The Congress party issued a statement to confirm that Singh has been admitted to the hospital. "Former PM, Dr. Manmohan Singh has been admitted to AIIMS. We wish him a full and speedy recovery," the party's official social media handle stated.

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi wished Singh a "speedy recovery". The country needs "your guidance and advice in this difficult time", he further tweeted.

Singh, 88, suffers from heart-related ailments. He is expected to remain under keen observation considering his age and co-morbidities.

A day earlier, Singh had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the current coronavirus situation in the country. The ex-PM had offered a list of advise to the central government, stressing that the details of all orders placed for COVID-19 vaccine does should be made public.

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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