Maharashtra's coronavirus caseload rose to 61,89,257 with the addition of 8,010 new infections on Thursday, while the death toll jumped to 1,26,560 after 170 patients succumbed to the respiratory illness, a health department official said here.

The state witnessed a drop in the daily COVID-19 cases, while the fatalities remained the same as compared to Wednesday, when it had reported 8,602 new infections and 170 deaths.

Significantly, Parbhani and Jalgaon cities did not report any new coronavirus infection in the last 24 hours, the official said.

The official said as many as 7,391 patients were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, pushing the number of recovered cases to 59,52,192. Maharashtra's COVID-19 recovery rate is 96.17 per cent, while the fatality rate is 2.04 per cent, he said.

The state now has 1,07,205 active coronavirus cases. According to the official, out of 4,48,24,211 COVID-19 tests done so far, 2,14,935 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours.

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 reports 8,010 new COVID-19 cases, 170 deaths, 7,391 recoveries

According to the official, out of 4,48,24,211 COVID-19 tests done so far, 2,14,935 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours.

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