Maharashtra's coronavirus tally on Friday increased to 19,61,975 with the addition of 3,693 cases, a state health official said.

As the virus claimed the lives of 73 patients during the day, the fatality count mounted to 49,970, he said.

A total of 2,890 patients were discharged from hospitals post-treatment on Friday, pushing the recovery count to 18,58,999.

There are 51,838 active cases in the state at present.

Mumbai city reported 654 positive cases on Friday, which pushed its overall infection count to 2,97,639, while its death toll rose to 11,173 with 11 fresh fatalities.

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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Maharashtra's COVID-19 case count rises by 3,693, death toll by 73

The Mumbai division, which consists of Mumbai city and satellite towns, reported 1,287 new cases, raising the total to 6,73,120. As many as 19,217 people have died so far in the region, the official said.

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