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HomeNewscoronavirusFollow COVID-appropriate behaviour to avoid lockdown: Maharashtra CM to people

Follow COVID-appropriate behaviour to avoid lockdown: Maharashtra CM to people

During the meeting, Thackeray also asked the authorities to keep a vigil on all travellers landing at the state airports.

November 28, 2021 / 20:40 IST
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Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray (File image)

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said that in order to avoid another coronavirus-induced lockdown in the state, people must follow COVID-appropriate behaviour, and asked the authorities to take necessary steps to protect citizens from the new Omicron variant of the virus without waiting for the Centre's directives.

He was speaking during a virtual meeting with divisional commissioners and district collectors held to discuss the COVID-19 situation in the state and the precautionary measures that need to be taken in view of the Omicron variant detected in South Africa.

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ALSO READ: Omicron threat | Centre tells states to conduct surveillance of travellers coming from 'at risk' countries

"Do whatever is needed to prevent the new deadly variant of COVID-19. Get started without waiting for central government's directives," Thackeray asked the officials. "Citizens need to follow COVID-appropriate behaviour to prevent another lockdown in the state," he said.

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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