Former president Pranab Mukherjee tests positive for COVID-19

Former president Pranab Mukherjee said he had visited the hospital for a “separate procedure” and on testing, was found to be positive for COVID-19.

Moneycontrol News

August 10, 2020 / 15:14 IST

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Former president Pranab Mukherjee on August 10 said he has tested positive for COVID-19. In a tweet, he also requested those who had come in contact with him in recent days, to self-isolate and get tested.

Mukherjee, who served as the Indian president between 2012 and 2017, said he had visited the hospital for a “separate procedure” and on testing, found himself positive for the novel coronavirus infection.

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“On a visit to the hospital for a separate procedure, I have tested positive for COVID19 today. I request the people who came in contact with me in the last week, to please self-isolate and get tested for COVID-19,” Mukherjee, who also served as the union minister the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, said in a tweet.

Soon after Mukherjee's tweet, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala along with several other party leaders wished him a speedy recovery. "We wish former President Pranab Mukherjee a speedy recovery from Covid," the Congress said on its official Twitter handle.

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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