Fresh Indian Covid Cases Drop Nearly 9% In 24 Hours To 24,010

New Delhi's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has said it could be six months before a sufficient number of people could be vaccinated to break the chain of coronavirus transmission and another six months before life could get close to the pre-Covid days. The other aim - to reduce the mortality rate - will be achieved on its own when high-risk individuals get vaccinated, AIIMS director Randeep Guleria has said.

Up to 80% of Indian students couldn't access online schooling during the coronavirus lockdown, and many might not return to classrooms when they reopen, an Oxfam study shows. The result is a worsening of the already stark levels of inequality in the country. While this divide isn't unique to India, it's especially acute in a nation where more than half the population of 1.3 billion people is under 25 years old.

Delhi recorded 1,547 fresh cases on Wednesday with over 79,000 tests conducted, even as the positivity rate stood at 1.96 per cent, authorities said. The number of deaths mounted to 10,147 with 32 new fatalities, while the active case tally dropped to 13,261 from 14,480 the previous day. This is the second consecutive day when the positivity rate remained below two per cent.

Delhi has begun preparations for the rolling out of COVID-19 vaccine. Around 3,500 healthcare workers are being trained for the vaccine rollout and out of these 1,800 healthcare workers will be deployed at 609 cold-chain points across the city. Others will be involved as medical officers and for inoculation at the vaccination booths.

India has signed a $400 million pact with the World Bank to aid the poor and vulnerable reeling under the coronavirus crisis. This is the second operation in a programmatic series of two as the first operation of $750 million was approved in May 2020. The $400 million credit has been extended by World Bank's concessionary lending arm International Development Association. It will strengthen the capability of state and national governments in India to provide coordinated and adequate social protection to the poor and vulnerable from the shocks triggered by the pandemic.

India will have to spend up to $1.8 billion in the first phase of a coronavirus vaccination programme, even after getting support under the COVAX global vaccine-sharing scheme, according to estimates by the GAVI vaccines alliance. India, which has the world's second highest caseload of coronavirus behind the US, plans to inoculate 300 million people over the next six to eight months, likely with vaccines from AstraZeneca, Russia's Sputnik, Zydus Cadila and India's own Bharat Biotech.

Financially stressed because of being shut for months due to the coronavirus pandemic, the staff and managements of several schools in Karnataka are demanding vaccination on priority, medical insurance, and food kits for teachers and support staff. The teachers, who protested in Bengaluru on Wednesday, also want to be considered Covid warriors.

The WHO has said a team of experts will travel to China in January to help investigate the animal origins of Covid-19. A year into the novel coronavirus pandemic, which has killed over 1.6 million people and infected over 73 million globally, the question of where the virus came from and how it first crossed over to humans remains a mystery. The WHO has for months been working to send the team of 10 international experts, including epidemiologists and animal health specialists, to China, where the virus first surfaced last December.

The WHO in Europe has warned of a "further resurgence" of Covid-19 in early 2021, urging families to wear face masks during this year's Christmas gatherings.

An Alaskan health worker had a serious allergic reaction after getting Pfizer Inc and BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine, but is now stable, public health authorities said on Wednesday. The adverse reaction in the person, minutes after taking the Pfizer shot on Tuesday, was similar to two cases reported last week in Britain.