Coronavirus lockdown | Govt to call citizens for feedback

Only a call from 1921, as per the notification, will be an authentic survey-related call.

Moneycontrol News

April 23, 2020 / 13:18 IST

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The government of India will be conducting a telephonic survey by calling up citizens on their mobile phones across the country to get their feedback on the prevalence and distribution of COVID-19 symptoms.

As per an official notification by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), the survey is to be carried out by the National Informatics Centre (NIC). Citizens will get a call from the number 1921 on their mobile phones.

The union ministry, in the notification, informed people that it is a genuine survey and requested them to "participate in good measure when a call comes in from 1921 to enable proper feedback of the prevalence and distribution of the symptoms" of COVID-19 infection.

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The health ministry also warned citizens that they should be aware of any other calls by pranksters or calls from any other number in the guise of such similar surveys.

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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