Medical staff inoculates a senior citizen with the ‘Covishield’ vaccine at the Rajawadi Hospital in Mumbai, Maharashtra on March 17, 2021. (Image: Indranil Mukherjee/AFP)

Maharashtra, the worst-affected state in the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic, continues to report the highest numbers in India's vaccination drive.

Maharashtra has administered over 1.29 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses so far, according to official data released by the state government. As many as 2.75 lakh shots were given on April 20, the data showed.

Cumulatively, while 1.14 crore beneficiaries have received their first dose, 14.98 lakh have been given their second dose. The beneficiaries, include healthcare workers, frontline workers and individuals aged above 45.

According to the union health ministry's latest update, 13.01 crore doses have been administered across the country so far. About 29.9 lakh of these doses were given on April 20.

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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 vaccination: Over 1.29 crore doses administered in Maharashtra so far

More than 13 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered across India so far. Maharashtra has highest number of inoculations among all states.

Medical staff inoculates a senior citizen with the ‘Covishield’ vaccine at the Rajawadi Hospital in Mumbai, Maharashtra on March 17, 2021. (Image: Indranil Mukherjee/AFP)

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