COVID-19 update: Maharashtra sees 3,502 new cases, 17 deaths

On Saturday, the state had logged 4,359 cases – over a thousand less than the previous day – and also reported 32 pandemic-related deaths.

PTI

February 13, 2022 / 22:48 IST

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Maharashtra on Sunday reported 3,502 new coronavirus positive cases, over 850 less than the day ago, which took the state's infection count to 78,42,949, while 17 deaths pushed the toll to 1,43,404, the health department said. On Saturday, the state had logged 4,359 cases – over a thousand less than the previous day – and also reported 32 pandemic-related deaths.

At present, there are 45,905 active cases in Maharashtra. A total of 9,815 patients were discharged during the day, which raised the overall recovery figure in the state to 76,49,669, it said in a statement, adding that the recovery rate is 97.54 per cent.

ALSO READ: COVID-19 update | In Maharashtra, new cases drop sharply to 6,436; 24 die, 18,423 recover

With 1,34,634 people being tested on Sunday, the cumulative test count reached 7,64,37,416, the department said. The state also reported 218 Omicron variant cases, of which 172 were in Mumbai, 30 in Pune city, 12 in Gadchiroli and 14 in Pune rural.

Till date, a total of 3,986 patients were found infected with the Omicron variant. Out of them, 3,334 have been discharged after testing negative for the infection. Mumbai city saw 288 new cases and one death, which took its caseload to 10,53,132 and toll to 16,683.

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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