Coronavirus pandemic | Centre considering extension of ongoing lockdown

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after a virtual meeting with chief ministers of all states on April 3, had said that it is important to formulate a common exit strategy to ensure staggered re-emergence of the population once the lockdown ends

Moneycontrol News

April 07, 2020 / 17:00 IST

Several state governments and experts have requested the Centre to consider an extension of the ongoing lockdown in a bid to bolster the country's fight against coronavirus, news agency ANI reported.

"A lot of state governments, as well as experts, are requesting Central Government to extend the lockdown. Central Government is thinking in this direction," government sources told ANI.

Also Read | Coronavirus pandemic: Here are the states that have hinted at extending the lockdown

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after a virtual meeting with chief ministers of all states on April 3, had said it was important to formulate a common exit strategy to ensure staggered re-emergence of the population once the lockdown ends.

Track this blog for LIVE updates on the coronavirus outbreak

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