COVID-19 restrictions to be eased in Maharashtra, revised guidelines to be issued soon

The officials are also identifying new areas where more relaxation can be introduced.

Moneycontrol News

August 10, 2021 / 09:25 IST

The COVID task force meeting meeting was attended by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, state chief secretary Sitaram Kunte, state COVID task force head Dr Sanjay Oak and other members. (Image: Reuters/Francis Mascarenhas)

With daily new COVID-19 case stabilising, the Maharashtra government is planning to grant more relaxation. During a meeting of the state COVID task force held on August 9, the preparation of new COVID-19 guidelines with eased curb was discussed.

The meeting was attended by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, state chief secretary Sitaram Kunte, state COVID task force head Dr Sanjay Oak and other members.

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"The Maharashtra government is now preparing new guidelines after receiving various suggestions and instructions from doctors, experts and government departments. The focus of the discussion (in the meeting) was basically on how to introduce further relaxations while observing precautions," PTI reported quoting a state government official.

The officials are also identifying new areas where more relaxation can be introduced.

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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COVID-19 restrictions to be eased in Maharashtra, revised guidelines to be issued soon

The officials are also identifying new areas where more relaxation can be introduced.

The COVID task force meeting meeting was attended by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, state chief secretary Sitaram Kunte, state COVID task force head Dr Sanjay Oak and other members. (Image: Reuters/Francis Mascarenhas)

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