India's drug regulator on Friday approved Zydus Cadila's three-dose COVID-19 DNA vaccine for emergency use in adults and children aged 12 years and above, bringing in the sixth vaccine authorised for use in the country.
Maharashtra, the worst-hit state in the country, reported 4,365 new infections and 105 fatalities in 24 hours.
Kerala reported 20,224 COVID-19 cases and 99 deaths on Friday, taking the total caseload to 37,86,797 and the toll to 19,345. Thrissur reported the highest number of cases (2,795), followed by Ernakulam 2,707, Kozhikode 2,705, Malappuram 2,611, and Palakkad 1,528.
No death due to COVID-19 was recorded in Delhi on Friday, while 57 fresh cases were reported with a positivity rate of 0.08 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department. This is the eleventh time since the starting of the second wave of the pandemic in the national capital that zero deaths have been logged in a day.
India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has reached 57.61 crore.
Overall, the daily positivity rate in the country has been below 3 per cent for the last 26 days. Active cases constitute 1.12% of total cases, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate stands 97.54 per cent, the Union Health Ministry said.
Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal has rejected a proposal by the Arvind Kejriwal government to set up a committee to establish the number of people who died during the second Covid wave due to a lack of medical oxygen, and award ₹ 5 lakh monetary compensation to their families, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said on Friday.
A study in the UK has found that vaccines against Covid are less effective against the delta variant. The study showed that the effectiveness of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against Covid-19 declines faster than that of the AstraZeneca jab.
Covid patients are dying in U.S. hospitals at levels not seen since February, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said, warning that the numbers could worsen as intensive-care units overflow in parts of the South.
Coronavirus cases worldwide have surpassed the 200 million-mark. Cases are rising in about one-third of the world's countries, many of which have not even given half their population a first dose.
US Lawmakers Back Covid Chinese Lab Leak Theory After Two-Year Probe New XEC Covid Variant Spreads To 27 Countries, Here's What We Know So Far Study Shows How Long Covid Is Debilitating Children's Health Video: Rahul Gandhi Approaches BJP MP Who Fell During Protest, This Happens People Seeking Justice For Atul Subhash Chase Rahul Gandhi. He Does This R Ashwin: A Hero No One Was Fighting For Fact Check: Viral ABP Poll Forecasting BJP Win In 2025 Delhi Election Is Fake CBSE Conducts Surprise Inspection At 29 Schools, Finds 'Dummy' Students Ready To Meet Donald Trump "Anytime" To Talk Ukraine Deal: Vladimir Putin Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.