From timing to lift lockdown to India’s COVID-19 vaccination policy: Key highlights of Health Ministry briefing

The paediatric population is generally asymptomatic. Even if they get infected, their symptoms are minimal or nil. However, if the coronavirus changes nature, its impact on children may worsen. The nation is preparing for adversities, so that even if two to three percent of children infected with the novel coronavirus require hospitalisation, they can be taken care of, NITI Aayog member VK Paul said.

Moneycontrol News

June 01, 2021 / 20:45 IST

NITI Aayog member Dr VK Paul addressed a Health Ministry briefing on June 1 (Image: ANI)

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said at a press briefing on June 1, that India’s current active COVID-19 cases have reduced by over 50 percent, and 30 states and union territories (UTs) have seen a continuous decline in active cases over the last week. The Health Ministry also spoke about India’s COVID-19 vaccination policy, coronavirus cases among children, and how to ease lockdown in districts where COVID-19 cases are declining.

Here are the key highlights of the Health Ministry briefing:

India will stick to its schedule of giving two doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca's Covishield COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccine beneficiaries will also be administered two doses of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin. There has been no change in the policy.

Mixing of COVID-19 vaccines is not a protocol yet but research is currently being conducted on this.

COVID-19 infection is still not serious among children, but it may have a serious impact on children if the nature of the virus changes.

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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