With 1.34 lakh fresh Covid cases, the "declining trend continues", the Health Ministry said this morning, adding that "active caseload has further declined to 17,13,413". The positivity rate was recorded below 10 per cent for the tenth straight day.
Here are the top 10 developments on coronavirus cases in India
The second Covid wave has hit the country much harder with lakhs getting affected each week. India recorded 2,887 deaths since yesterday; 3.37 lakh people have died so far. The overall case count stood at 2.84 crore this morning.
The country has administered over 22 crore vaccine doses since January and aims to vaccinate all eligible people by the end of this year.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday made some sharp remarks on the centre's vaccine plan as it called the policy of paid vaccination for those between 18 and 44 "arbitrary and irrational".
The top court asked the centre to file a detailed affidavit giving complete data on the purchase history of all the vaccines till date - Covaxin, Covishield and Sputnik V. Dates of all procurement orders; number of doses ordered; and projected date of supply have also been sought.
The government has been told to "place on record a roadmap of projected availability of vaccines till 31 December 2021" by the top court.
After Pfizer, now Serum Institute of India, the world's biggest vaccine make, has sought protection from liability, sources have said. "Not just Serum Institute of India (SII), all the vaccine companies should get indemnity protection against liabilities if foreign companies are granted it," Serum sources said today, adding that rules should be the same for everyone.
Meanwhile, the government has booked 30 crore doses of Hyderabad-based Biological-E's Covid vaccine, which is still in clinical trials. The Health Ministry will make an advance payment of Rs 1,500 crore to the company for what will be the second made-in-India vaccine to be used in the country after Bharat Biotech's Covaxin.
In a report, the State Bank of India has said the intensity of a COVID-19 third wave in India will be as severe as that of the second wave if any indication is to be had from what other nations have reported.
Vaccination should be priortised for children and teens in the 12-18 age group, who could be the next vulnerable group, the report said.
Tamil Nadu and Kerala are now reporting more cases every day than Maharashtra, which has the highest overall case count.
