India added 9,283 new coronavirus cases and 437 related fatalities in last 24 hours, according to the latest official update. The active cases stood at 1,11,481, comprising 1 per cent of the total count, the lowest since March 2020. The recovery count stood at 98.33 per cent, the highest since then.
Meanwhile, two doses of Covaxin are 50 per cent effective against symptomatic disease, according to the first real-world assessment of India's indigenous COVID-19 vaccine published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal.
Results of an interim study recently published in The Lancet showed that two doses of Covaxin, also known as BBV152, had 77.8 per cent efficacy against symptomatic disease and present no serious safety concerns.
The latest study assessed 2,714 hospital workers at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi, from April 15-May 15, who were symptomatic and underwent RT-PCR test for COVID-19 detection.
Researchers noted that the Delta variant was the dominant strain in India during the study period, accounting for approximately 80 per cent of all confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Here are the LIVE Updates on Coronavirus cases in India:
Portugal, one of the world's most vaccinated nations, will give COVID-19 booster shots to a quarter of its population by the end of January, the health secretary said on Wednesday, as authorities try to stop a recent surge in infections, reported news agency Reuters.
COVID-19 News: Europe Sees Record-Breaking Covid CasesCoronavirus infections broke records in parts of Europe on Wednesday, with the continent once again the epicentre of a pandemic that has prompted new curbs on movement and seen health experts push to widen the use of booster vaccination shots. Read here.
Assam recorded 214 new coronavirus infections and two fresh fatalities on Wednesday, taking the state''s total tally of COVID-19 cases to 6,15,995, a National Health Mission bulletin said.
The number of positive cases detected during the day was seven more from the previous day with the positivity rate increasing to 0.66 per cent from 0.56 per cent on Tuesday.
Chhattisgarh's COVID-19 tally rose to 10,06,635 on Wednesday after 19 new cases were detected, while no fresh death due to the infection was reported in the state, a health department official said.
The COVID-19 death count remained unchanged at 13,593, he said.
Tamil Nadu reported 744 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, taking the tally to 27,22,506, while the toll rose to 36,415 with 14 more deaths.
Recoveries marginally outnumbered new cases with 782 people getting discharged in the last 24 hours, aggregating to 26,77,607, leaving 8,484 active infections, a health department bulletin said.
Sikkim on Wednesday reported three new COVID-19 cases, two less than the previous day, with the caseload increasing to 32,179, a health department bulletin said.
Of the fresh cases, two were registered in East Sikkim and one in West Sikkim.
Gujarat's COVID-19 tally on Wednesday rose to 8,27,296 with an addition of 29 new cases, while no fresh death due to the infection was registered in the state, the health department said.
With 32 patients getting discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, the tally of recovered cases rose to 8,16,888, it said.
Karnataka logged 254 fresh COVID-19 cases and three deaths on Wednesday, taking the total number of infections to 29,94,255 and the toll to 38,185.
The day also saw 546 discharges, taking the total number of recoveries in the state so far to 29,49,629, a health department bulletin said.
Himachal Pradesh recorded three coronavirus-related deaths on Wednesday that raised the count to 3,821, while 116 fresh cases pushed the infection count to 2,26,705, an official said.
Two new fatalities were reported from Kangra, while one from Una district.
Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday recorded 174 fresh cases of coronavirus, taking the infected number of people to 3,35,881 while two fresh deaths due to the virus were reported from the Union Territory in the past 24 hours, officials said.
Of the fresh cases, 25 were from Jammu division and 149 from Kashmir division, the officials said.
Nagaland on Wednesday reported 10 new COVID-19 cases, two more than the previous day, with the tally rising to 32,078, a health department official said.
Of the fresh cases, seven were detected in Dimapur, two in Mokokching and one in Kohima district, he said.
At least 51 people tested positive for coronavirus, while two died of the infection in Maharashtra's Nashik district on Wednesday, an official said.
With this, the tally of infections in the district has risen to 4,12,107, which includes 8,710 fatalities, he said.
The total caseload of COVID-19 cases in Kerala crossed 51 lakh to reach 51,02,125 on Wednesday after it recorded 4,280 fresh infections.
The number of deaths reported was 308 which raised the count to 38,353, said an official press release.
Citing multiple surges in coronavirus cases in several countries, the Union Health Ministry has written to 13 states and union territories, including West Bengal, Kerala, Maharashtra and Punjab, expressing concerns over declining weekly testing rates and spiking positivity rates in some districts.
In a letter to Nagaland, Sikkim, Maharashtra, Kerala, Goa, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Ladakh, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan stressed on maintaining high testing rates given the recent increase in travelling due to events like marriages, festivals and vacations that have recently concluded or are underway.
"A decrease in testing would undermine the actual infection spread within the community," Mr Bhushan said in the letter.
South Korea's Enzychem Lifesciences would make at least 80 million doses of India's homegrown DNA COVID-19 vaccine from Cadila Healthcare, the domestic drugmaker said on Wednesday.
As part of the deal, Cadila will transfer the DNA vaccine technology to Enzychem, which will make and sell the vaccine, ZyCoV-D, within its territory under the Cadila trademark. Cadila will get license fees and royalty payments, the company said in a filing to stock exchanges.
Covaxin, one of the main vaccines used in India's coronavirus immunization drive, provides only 50% protection against symptomatic COVID-19, according to a real-world study that suggests the shot is less effective than initially thought.
As India was slammed by its second major Covid wave earlier this year, researchers at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi analyzed data from 2,714 of the hospital's health workers who were showing signs of infection and underwent RT-PCR testing between April 15 and May 15, according to a study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal. At the start of the country's vaccination campaign in January, staff at AIIMS had exclusively been offered Covaxin, a shot co-developed by India's state-funded health research agency and local company Bharat Biotech International Ltd.
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan writes to Nagaland, Sikkim, Maharashtra, Kerala, Goa, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, J&K, Punjab, Rajasthan, West Bengal & Ladakh over a decline in weekly #COVID19 testing rates pic.twitter.com/Amj4C0ga9S
- ANI (@ANI) November 24, 2021
Pfizer Vaccine 100% Effective In Adolescents After 4 Months, Says CompanyPfizer and BioNTech said Monday their COVID-19 vaccine remained 100 percent effective in children 12 to 15 years old, four months after the second dose. The companies said the new data will help support their applications for full approval in the United States and worldwide. Read here.
