The Covid caller tune may stop soon and Twitter is celebrating with memes

Since March 2020, when coronavirus was declared as a pandemic, the government had directed all telecom operators to ensure its announcement, in the form of a caller tune, is played before phone users connect to each other on a call.

Moneycontrol News

March 29, 2022 / 12:12 PM IST

The Covid caller tune is all set to go, reports say. (Representative)

The coronavirus pandemic brought a default caller tune to our phones to spread awareness about the deadly disease and update us on vaccination figures.

Since March 2020, when coronavirus was declared as a pandemic, the government had directed all telecom operators to ensure its announcement, in the form of a caller tune, is played before phone users connect to each other on a call.

Initially featuring Bollywood veteran Amitabh Bachchan’s voice, the tune promoted safety measures like face masks, using hand sanitisers and maintaining social distancing. A year later, the tune informed people about the country's vaccination drive.

Now, with Covid cases dropping to low numbers (below 2,000 for the past 10 days) and few deaths and hospitalizations, the caller tune is all set to go, an official told news agency ANI.

Twitter was quick to rejoice at the news, as many said there was a long delay in connecting the call due to caller tune.

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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The Covid caller tune may stop soon and Twitter is celebrating with memes

Since March 2020, when coronavirus was declared as a pandemic, the government had directed all telecom operators to ensure its announcement, in the form of a caller tune, is played before phone users connect to each other on a call.

The Covid caller tune is all set to go, reports say. (Representative)

Related stories

INVEST IN DIRECT MUTUAL FUND

INVEST IN CRYPTOCURRENCY

INVEST IN CURATED STOCK & ETF PORTFOLIOS

Global Investment

The Covid caller tune may stop soon and Twitter is celebrating with memes

Since March 2020, when coronavirus was declared as a pandemic, the government had directed all telecom operators to ensure its announcement, in the form of a caller tune, is played before phone users connect to each other on a call.

The Covid caller tune is all set to go, reports say. (Representative)

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