HomeNewsIndiaCoronavirus pandemic | India now worst-hit country in Asia, ninth in the world

Coronavirus pandemic | India now worst-hit country in Asia, ninth in the world

The health ministry said the death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 4,706 in the country, while the number of cases climbed to 1,65,799, registering an increase of 175 deaths and a record jump of 7,466 cases since Thursday 8 am.

May 29, 2020 / 11:18 IST
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Representative image

India is now the worst-hit country in Asia as it went past Turket in the COVID-19 tally. It is the world's ninth worst-hit country by the coronavirus pandemic with coronavirus cases having climbed to 1,65,799.

As per Worldometers, the other countries in Asia to make it to the top-five list are Iran, China and Saudi Arabia respectively.

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The health ministry in India has said the death toll due to COVID-19 rose to 4,706 in the country while the number of cases climbed to 1,65,799, registering an increase of 175 deaths and a record jump of 7,466 cases since 8 am on May 28.

Coronavirus India LIVE News updates

COVID-19 Vaccine
Frequently Asked Questions

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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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