Making efforts to airlift oxygen from Odisha: Arvind Kejriwal

Kejriwal thanked the Centre and the high court for their efforts towards raising Delhi's oxygen quota for treating COVID 19 patients, and said supplies have started reaching the national capital.

PTI

April 22, 2021 / 14:41 IST

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal (Image: ANI)

The Delhi government is making efforts to airlift its enhanced quota of oxygen supply from Odisha, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Thursday, as several city hospitals reported shortage of oxygen amid rising cases of coronavirus.

Kejriwal thanked the Centre and the high court for their efforts towards raising Delhi's oxygen quota for treating COVID 19 patients, and said supplies have started reaching the national capital.

He also urged the Central government and Haryana government to facilitate "smooth passage" to vehicles carrying medical oxygen to Delhi

A major chunk of the freshly allotted quota of oxygen to Delhi comes from Odisha, which is hundreds of kilometres away, and the Delhi government is planning to airlift it to save time at this critical juncture in the fight against coronavirus, Kejriwal said in an online media briefing.

Later, the chief minister received a call from his Odisha counterpart Naveen Patnaik assuring complete support to Delhi government in lifting oxygen.

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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