India saw a single-day increase of 47,905 infections taking the country's COVID-19 caseload to 86,83,916, while the number of people who have recuperated from the disease have surged to 80,66,501, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.
The coronavirus death count climbed to 1,28,121 with 550 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.
The number of active cases remained below 5 lakh for the second consecutive day.
There are 4,89,294 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country as on date which comprises 5.63 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated. The total recoveries have surged to 80, 66,501 pushing the national recovery rate to 92.89 per cent, while COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.48 per cent.
Meanwhile, Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine producer, said on Thursday it has made 40 million doses of AstraZeneca's potential COVID-19 vaccine, and would soon begin making Novavax's rival shot, as they both seek regulatory approval.
Serum said it had enrolled 1,600 participants in India for late-stage trials of AstraZeneca's candidate, and also plan s to seek regulatory approval to run late-stage trials for the Novavax vaccine.
The AstraZeneca vaccine, co-developed by Oxford University, is the most advanced in human testing in India, Serum said, adding that the company and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) will pursue "early availability" of the shot in India.