The World Health Organization (WHO) has lauded the Government of India for its efforts in effectively controlling the spread of the deadly Novel Coronavirus in the country.

Though 126 people have tested positive in India and three have died of COVID-19 infection, the Centre has adopted a rigorous approach to combat the disease.

Addressing the media on the sidelines of a meet with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), WHO representative to India Henk Bekedam said they are “very impressed” with India's commitment to fighting Coronavirus Pandemic.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions View more 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. View more + Show

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He said, “I think the commitment of the Indian government from the top level -- the Prime Minister's office himself -- has been enormous, very impressive. This is one of the reasons why India is doing very well. I am very impressed that everyone has been mobilised.”

Bekedam even lauded Pune’s Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Virology (ICMR-NIV) for successfully isolating the strains of COVID-19. Notably, isolation of virus strains is necessary to develop drugs, vaccines, and diagnostic kits, etc.

Meanwhile, in most Indian states, large gatherings have been banned, schools and colleges have been shut down, and people have been advised to restrict venturing outside for recreation.

Besides, the Centre has also put up a temporary ban on travel to India from any country of the European Union, Turkey, and the United Kingdom starting March 18. People from the Philippines, Afghanistan, and Malaysia have also been barred from travelling to India for the time being.

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