Maharashtra BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis (PTI)

Maharashtra Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday accused the Maha Vikas Aghadi government of repackaging the Centre's ongoing schemes and presenting them as its own measures for people affected by the COVID-19 curbs.

Speaking to reporters in Nagpur, the BJP leader said the measures announced by the Uddhav Thackeray government were an eyewash, as it has simply repackaged the Centre's schemes and presented it as its own.

"A huge population is going to be affected due to the newly-announced curbs amid the pandemic, but it will not receive any financial assistance from this government," Fadnavis said.

At least 88 lakh people in the state are not covered in the Food Security Act because of a faulty survey conducted in 2011, and the chief minister has not announced any assistance for these people, he said.

The chief minister on Tuesday announced a new set of restrictions themed as "break the chain", chiefly prohibiting public movement and shutting non-essential services till May 1.

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 govt repackaged Centre's schemes for people affected by pandemic: Devendra Fadnavis

Speaking to reporters in Nagpur, the BJP leader said the measures announced by the Uddhav Thackeray government were an eyewash, as it has simply repackaged the Centre's schemes and presented it as its own.

Maharashtra BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis (PTI)

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