India reports 1,581 new COVID-19 cases; active cases fall below 25,000

Delhi, Sikkim and Nagaland were the only three states which reported a minor rise in active infections.

March 22, 2022 / 09:40 IST

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India reported 1,581 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, a tad higher than the previous day, though the number of active cases in the country fell below 25,000.

The fresh tally takes the total number of confirmed coronavirus infections in the country to 4,30,10, 971.

Some 33 deaths were reported because of the infectious disease, raising the number of COVID-19 fatalities to 5,16,543. All the deaths were backlog cases reported by Kerala as part of its data reconciliation exercise.

Kerala, Gujarat and Karnataka reported two coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours, while five other states and UTs lost one life each. Majority of the states and UTs, however, did not report any COVID-19 deaths during the period.

Also read I You can travel to these countries with no quarantine if fully-vaccinated

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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