The World Health Organization has granted Bharat Biotech's Covaxin an Emergency Use Listing, said sources on Wednesday evening, which means the COVID-19 vaccine will now be recognised by other countries. Moreover, Indians who have received the 'Made-in-India' shot need not self-quarantine or face restrictions when travelling abroad.
The development comes on a day the country reported 11,903 fresh COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, which was 14% higher than yesterday. The country also witnessed 311 Covid-related deaths during the period.
With 14,159 recoveries reported in the last 24 hours, the cumulative recoveries reached 3,36,97,740. Consequently, the recovery rate is currently at 98.22 per cent, the highest since March 2020.
Last month, India's total COVID-19 vaccine doses administered crossed the 100-crore mark.
Here are the Highlights on Coronavirus Cases In India:
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday said that many children have lost their parents during the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic and the state government is committed to improving the lives of such children.
"All such children are the responsibility of Madhya Pradesh. The Government of Madhya Pradesh is committed to improving the lives of these children orphaned by the pandemic. We need to give them a bright future and light their lamp of happiness by extending a loving hand and making their Diwali special again," said Mr Chouhan today.
World Health Organisation's South-East Asia Regional Director Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh has congratulated India on the Emergency Use Listing of Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin on Wednesday.
"Congratulations India for Emergency Use Listing of its indigenously produced #COVID19 vaccine COVAXIN," Dr Singh said in a tweet.
The World Health Organization has granted Bharat Biotech's Covaxin an Emergency Use Listing, said sources on Wednesday evening, which means the COVID-19 vaccine will be recognised by other countries and Indians who have received the shot need not self-quarantine or face restrictions when travelling abroad.
Germany is experiencing a "massive" pandemic of the unvaccinated, Health Minister Jens Spahn said Wednesday, calling for tougher action to tame a resurgence in Covid cases. "In some regions in Germany intensive care beds are running out again," he told reporters. Read here.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today emphasised on the importance of door-to-door vaccination and said equal importance has to be given to both doses. This, he said, is "because whenever the cases of infection start decreasing, sometimes the feeling of urgency decreases. People start feeling -- what is the hurry, we will get it".
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday asserted that the COVID-19 vaccination drive needed to be taken door-to-door and asked officials of districts having low inoculation to adopt innovative ways to boost the campaign. PM Modi made the remarks at a meeting, held via video conferencing, with district magistrates of over 40 districts having low vaccination coverage. Pointing out that he recently met Pope Francis at the Vatican City, the prime minister said special emphasis was needed on taking message of religious leaders spreading awareness and encouraging the vaccination drive to the people.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday is holding a review meeting with district magistrates of over 40 districts having low COVID-19 vaccination coverage. The meeting, being held via video conferencing, includes districts with less than 50 per cent coverage of the first dose and low coverage of the second dose of vaccine.
Authorities planned to seal off the northern tip of New Zealand with police cordons on Tuesday, as they enforce a lockdown in the region over fears of an undetected community transmission of COVID-19 there.
Five more countries including Kyrgyzstan, Mauritius and Mongolia have decided to recognise India's COVID-19 vaccination certificate, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Monday.
The Airport Authority of India (AAI), Kolkata on Monday issued guidelines stating that passengers arriving in West Bengal should be either fully vaccinated or carry an RT-PCR negative report for COVID-19, conducted within 72 hours of departure.
More than 114 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses have been provided to states and union territories so far, out of which, more than 14.68 crore balance and unutilised doses are still available with them to be administered, informed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday. As per a press release issued by the ministry, 1,14,44,05,215 vaccine doses have been provided to the states/UTs so far through the Central government (free of cost channel) and through the direct state procurement category.
Puducherry registered 29 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday pushing overall caseload to 1,28,106. Each of the four regions of Union Territory-- Puducherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam reported less than 10 fresh cases. While Puducherry logged nine fresh cases Karaikal reported eight cases and Yanam and Mahe regions reported four and eight fresh cases respectively. The fresh cases were identified at the end of examination of 2454 samples. The active cases were 359 of whom 73 patients were in hospitals and remaining 286 patients were in home isolation.
The COVID-19 situation continued to improve in Mizoram, where single-day cases have remained below the 1,000-mark for the last 20 days, as the tally rose to 1,22,992 with 638 fresh infections on Wednesday. The death count mounted to 436, as one more patient succumbed to the virus. Mizoram now has 6,325 active cases, while 1,16,231 people have recovered from the disease, including 796 since Tuesday.
West Bengal reported 862 new COVID-19 cases and 11 deaths in the past 24 hours, informed the state health department on Tuesday. According to the state health bulletin, the number of active cases in the state stands at 8,126. With 871 recoveries reported in the last 24 hours, a total of 15,67,209 people have recovered in the state so far. As many as 15,94,495 COVID-19 cases have been reported in the state so far and a total of 19,160 people have succumbed to the virus in the state.
With the addition of 131 new cases of coronavirus, the infection count in Maharashtra's Thane district has gone up to 5,66,130, while six more fatalities pushed the death count to 11,529 on Wednesday. These new cases and deaths were reported on Tuesday, he said. The COVID-19 mortality rate in Thane stood at 2.03 per cent.
Assam reported 270 fresh COVID-19 cases and seven fatalities in the last 24 hours, informed the state health department on Tuesday. As per the state health bulletin, with the addition of the new cases, the active caseload in the state stands at 2,385. With 159 recoveries reported in the last 24 hours, the total recoveries mounted to 6,01,468. As many as 6,11,211 COVID-19 cases have been reported in the state so far and the death count in the state stands at 6,011.
Australia's biggest city will lift more COVID-19 curbs for vaccinated residents ahead of schedule next week, while delaying freedoms it has promised for unvaccinated Sydneysiders as officials aim to boost inoculations.
Research collaboration between scientists at Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has identified and tested an antibody that limits the severity of infections from a variety of coronaviruses, including those that cause
Punjab on Tuesday reported 15 fresh cases of coronavirus, taking the infection tally to 6,02,434, according to a medical bulletin. No Covid-related death was reported in the state. The death count, which included one death case that was not reported earlier, stood at 16,561, as per the bulletin.
The United States can now start giving children aged 5-11 the Pfizer-BioNtech Covid vaccine, US health authorities said Tuesday as they gave final approval to this new phase of fighting the pandemic.