In charts | What you need to know about the COVID-19 surge right now

India reported more than 3.29 lakh COVID-19 new cases, the lowest in two weeks, according to May 11 update. Active infections dropped by 30,016 cases to 37.15 lakh.

Chaitanya Mallapur

May 11, 2021 / 11:28 IST

(Representative Image)

India has reported 3,29,942 new coronavirus cases, the lowest daily infection count in 14 days, in the last 24 hours, taking the country’s COVID-19 tally to above 2.29 crore, the health ministry’s May 11, 2021 update has said.

May 11 Daily New Cases and Moving Avg

The country reported 3,876 new deaths and 3,56,082 new recoveries, the latest release says. More than 17.27 crore vaccines have been administered across India, according to the May 11 update, with 25,03,756 new doses.

May 11_BarLine_Daily New Vaccination Vs Daily New Cases

Of the total jabs given to date, 78 percent are first doses and 22 percent second doses. Among states, Maharashtra has administered the most 1.83 crore vaccine doses followed by Rajasthan (1.43 crore) and Gujarat (1.42 crore).

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.

Show