HomeNewscoronavirusCOVID-19 Update | Maharashtra posts drop in cases at 43,211; 19 die, 238 new Omicron patients found

COVID-19 Update | Maharashtra posts drop in cases at 43,211; 19 die, 238 new Omicron patients found

The state also reported 238 new cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, raising their overall count to 1,605.

January 14, 2022 / 22:25 IST
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Representative image: Reuters
Representative image: Reuters

Maharashtra on Friday recorded 43,211 new coronavirus cases, down by 3,195 from a day ago, and 19 fresh fatalities linked to the infection, the health department said. The state also reported 238 new cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, raising their overall count to 1,605, a health department official said.

With these additions, Maharashtra's tally of COVID-19 cases jumped to 71,24,278, while the death toll climbed to 1,41,756, he said.The state had registered 46,406 COVID-19 cases and 36 fatalities on Thursday. Thus, cases dropped by 3,195 and deaths by 17 in a span of 24 hours.

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ALSO READ: COVID-19 update | Maharashtra records marginal dip in new cases at 46,406; 36 more die

Maharashtra's positivity rate is 21.13 per cent, the official said.The rate indicates the percentage of people who test positive for the virus of those overall who have been tested.

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: Jan 14, 2022 10:25 pm

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