HomeNewsIndiaCoronavirus wrap May 4: Kerala reports zero fresh cases two days in a row; crowds flock liquor shops

Coronavirus wrap May 4: Kerala reports zero fresh cases two days in a row; crowds flock liquor shops

The Centre clarified that Railways will bear 85 percent cost of rail travel of stranded migrant workers; and other key developments:

May 04, 2020 / 21:33 IST
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As many as 1,074 COVID-19 patients have recovered in the last 24 hours, the highest number of recoveries recorded in one day, the health ministry said today.

Addressing a press briefing, Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal said the recovery rate now stands at 27.52 percent with 11,706 COVID-19 patients cured till now.

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He further said the outcome ratio of COVID-19 – the ratio of recoveries and deaths of closed cases – was recorded at 90:10.

Confirmed COVID-19 cases in India stand at 42,836. The death toll from the outbreak in India is at 1,389.

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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