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HomeNewsPodcastCoronavirus Essential podcast | USFDA puts hold on plasma therapy; are we safe from the mutant Malaysia COVID-19 strain?

Coronavirus Essential podcast | USFDA puts hold on plasma therapy; are we safe from the mutant Malaysia COVID-19 strain?

Tune in to the Coronavirus Essential podcast with Sakshi Batra for the top pandemic updates of the day.

August 21, 2020 / 19:22 IST
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The USFDA has put on hold its decision to issue emergency approval for blood plasma therapy as a Covid-19 treatment, according to a report by the New York Times. This step may affect India, as thousands of patients are now being treated through plasma therapy.

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Meanwhile in Malaysia, a mutant form of coronavirus was found and was reported as being "10 times more infectious." However, scientists have said that this is not a concern for India as the strain is already widely prevalent in the country and is not any more virulent than the Wuhan strain. Another scientist confirmed that the strain is new for Malaysia but not for India.

Tune in to the Coronavirus Essential podcast with Sakshi Batra for the top pandemic updates of the day.

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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first published: Aug 21, 2020 07:22 pm

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