Here's your 10-point cheatsheet to this big story:
Total active cases, or those receiving treatment for COVID-19, stood at 4,22,943, down nearly 5,700 in the last 24 hours.
In this period, 40,726 people also fought off the viral disease taking the number of total patients discharged to 89.7 lakh.
Kerala, Maharashtra, Delhi, West Bengal and Rajasthan recorded the highest number of fresh infections.
While Kerala led the daily tally of infections, Maharashtra - worst-hit in absolute numbers with 18.3 lakh cases - recorded 111 deaths, followed by Delhi, West Bengal, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala.
According to India's top medical research body ICMR, 11,11,698 samples were tested on Wednesday. Till now, 14.3 crore samples have been tested for Sars-Cov-2 in India, which detected its first case in January, 2020.
As India refuted claims from a Chennai vaccine volunteer of neurological side effects from the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot, Britain approved Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine which the country would start administering to its most vulnerable section of the population early next week.
However, Pfizer's Covid vaccine is unlikely to be available in India at this time. For a vaccine to be allowed in India it must clear clinical trials here, and sources said neither Pfizer nor its partner companies had asked to hold such trials.
This means that even if Pfizer partners with an Indian company now it will take some time for the vaccine to be available in the country.
The central government has maintained that only a section of India's population would be vaccinated, starting with healthcare workers, other frontline workers and people above the age of 50.
The novel coronavirus pandemic broke out in China's Wuhan late last year and has since killed more than 14 lakh people across the world with 6 crore infections, a sixth of which are in the USA - the worst-hit country so far with 2.7 lakh deaths.
Tuberculosis Replaces Covid As Top Infectious Disease Killer, Says WHO What Is A Tripledemic? Lookout For These Three Viruses That Cause Severe Respiratory Health Issues The Science Behind Long COVID: Understanding The Persistent Presence Of SARS-CoV-2 Proteins Indian-Origin Woman Buys Matthew Perry's Los Angeles Home, Performs 'Puja' India Calls Out Canada's Move Against Outlet That Interviewed S Jaishankar Elon Musk In Trump Family's Election Victory Photo, But Melania Is Missing Putin Congratulates Trump On Big Win, Both Say They're Ready To Talk Karnataka Government Bans Staff From Using Tobacco Products Inside Offices India Urges Bangladesh To Take Strong Measures To Ensure Safety Of Hindus Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.