While 1,474 children lost one parent, 98 others lost both the parents during the pandemic, the sources in the state Women and Child Development Department said.

As many as 1,572 children in Maharashtra have lost either one or both their parents due to the coronavirus infection so far, sources said on Thursday.

While 1,474 children lost one parent, 98 others lost both the parents during the pandemic, the sources in the state Women and Child Development Department said.

"Of the 98, the government has got custody of 10 children since there is nobody to look after them," they said.

The data about the orphaned children has been compiled based on the inputs of the district task force headed by the collectors.

The government had set up a 10-member task force in each of the 36 districts in the state to identify the children orphaned due to the pandemic.

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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The task force will also oversee the arrangements of their shelter and supervise their adoption to ensure that there is no trafficking and exploitation.

The government has also set up a helpline number to seek information about such children after getting inputs that anti-social elements were encouraging illegal adoption of such children to be used for human trafficking.

1,572 kids in Maharashtra lost one or both parents due to COVID-19

While 1,474 children lost one parent, 98 others lost both the parents during the pandemic, the sources in the state Women and Child Development Department said.

While 1,474 children lost one parent, 98 others lost both the parents during the pandemic, the sources in the state Women and Child Development Department said.