HomeNewsTrendsCoronavirus pandemic | How to use the Aarogya Setu app and what are its features?

Coronavirus pandemic | How to use the Aarogya Setu app and what are its features?

The government suggests that you take the Aarogya Setu test on a regular basis

May 21, 2020 / 12:11 IST
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The Aarogya Setu app was officially released this month by the Government of India for iOS and Android users. Aarogya Setu is a COVID-19 tracking app aimed at ensuring citizens are informed and updated.

During his address to the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged citizens to use the app. According to PM Modi, the app could subsequently be used as an e-pass to facilitate essential travel.

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The Ministry of Civil Aviation on Wednesday announced commercial flights will resume services beginning May 25. Among other guidelines, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) have made it mandatory for passengers above 14 years of age to to register themselves on Aarogya Setu app.

How to download Aarogya Setu?

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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