HomeNewsIndiaSAARC nations can together mitigate coronavirus impact: Dharmendra Pradhan

SAARC nations can together mitigate coronavirus impact: Dharmendra Pradhan

Making a strong pitch for SAARC nations to jointly combat the virus, Modi had on Sunday committed USD 10 million for the emergency fund, and asserted that the best way to deal with the pandemic was by coming together, and not growing apart.

March 19, 2020 / 08:16 IST
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Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan exuded confidence that the coming together of SAARC nations to fight against coronavirus will bear fruit and help mitigate the effects of the virus in the southeast Asian subcontinent.

Pradhan was reacting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's proposal of setting up a COVID-19 emergency fund to deal with the pandemic.

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Making a strong pitch for SAARC nations to jointly combat the virus, Modi had on Sunday committed USD 10 million for the emergency fund, and asserted that the best way to deal with the pandemic was by coming together, and not growing apart.

"I am confident that through this initiative of combined efforts of our medical professionals and researchers, we will be able to contain, reduce and eventually mitigate the effects of Covid-19 in the southeast Asian subcontinent," Pradhan said in a media statement.

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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