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HomeNewsIndiaCannot rule out imposing lockdown if COVID-19 situation prevails: Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray

Cannot rule out imposing lockdown if COVID-19 situation prevails: Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray

Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray further said that stricter COVID-19 control measures may be imposed in the state in the next one or two days if the situation does not improve.

April 02, 2021 / 21:19 IST
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Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said on April 2 that a lockdown might be imposed in the state again if the present COVID-19 situation prevails.

“I cannot rule out imposing a lockdown if the current COVID-19 situation prevails. People have become complacent,” Thackeray said. He added that stricter COVID-19 control measures may be imposed in the state in the next one or two days if the situation does not improve.

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Uddhav Thackeray said that huge crowds have once again started gathering at weddings, parties, and political rallies “despite my appeal to stop for a while”. He reminded how daily COVID-19 case spike in the capital of Mumbai has gone up from 300-400 cases per day to over 8,500 in a day. This has happened in the span of one month. If this continues, the health facilities in the state will not be able to cope, the CM said.

Stating that Maharashtra conducted a maximum number of vaccinations in the country on April 1, Thackeray reiterated the need to increase vaccination and appealed to the Centre to increase the supply of COVID-19 vaccines.

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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