Coronavirus wrap August 26 | Phase II human trials of Oxford vaccine begin in Pune; 23 Punjab MLAs test positive

Globally, more than 2.3 crore infections and over 8.1 lakh deaths have been reported due to the COVID-19 pandemic

Moneycontrol News

August 26, 2020 / 08:04 PM IST

India has recorded more than 32.3 lakh COVID-19 cases and 59,449 deaths due to the disease. Of the total cases, 7.07 lakh are active cases, while 24.67 lakh have recovered.

Across the country, 8,23,992 samples were tested for the novel coronavirus on August 25, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said.

Maharashtra's COVID-19 tally remains the highest among Indian states and union territories, according to the Union health ministry's latest update.

Tamil Nadu is the second most-affected state, followed by Andhra Pradesh.

The health ministry updates its numbers a day after states release their data.

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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