Union minister Smriti Irani tests positive for COVID-19

Smriti Irani, the Union Cabinet Minister for Textiles and Women & Child Development is the latest to join the likes of political leaders who have tested positive for COVID-19.

Moneycontrol News

October 28, 2020 / 08:18 PM IST

Union Minister Smriti Irani October 28 said she has tested positive for COVID-19 and urged those who came in contact with her to get themselves tested. "It is rare for me to search for words while making an announcement; hence here’s me keeping it simple — I’ve tested positive for #COVID and would request those who came in contact with me to get themselves tested at the earliest," Irani informed in a tweet.

It is rare for me to search for words while making an announcement; hence here’s me keeping it simple — I’ve tested positive for #COVID and would request those who came in contact with me to get themselves tested at the earliest

— Smriti Z Irani (@smritiirani) October 28, 2020

Irani, the Union Cabinet Minister for Textiles and Women & Child Development is the latest to join the likes of political leaders who have tested positive for COVID-19. Previously, Home Minister Amit Shah, late President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Venkaiah Naidu,Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan among others have tested positive for the contagion.

In the last month, Senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel, Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis among others had tested positive for COVID-19.

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.

Show