The 'delta' variant of COVID-19 - the version first detected in India in October last year - is capable of infecting people even after they have received both doses of the Covaxin or Covishield vaccines, according to separate studies by AIIMS (Delhi) and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
It is important to note that neither study has been peer-reviewed as yet.
The AIIMS study suggests the 'delta' variant - which others, including one by British health authorities, say is between 40 and 50 per cent more infectious than the 'alpha' version first reported from the UK - is likely behind the majority of breakthrough infections in India.
India reported 92,596 new cases COVID-19 cases and 2,219 new deaths today. The country has so far reported a total of 2,90,89, 069 cases and 3,53,528 deaths. The positivity rate - the number of positive cases identified per 100 - stood at 4.67 per cent. It was the second straight day that India reported a positivity rate below 5 per cent.
Delhi, which began 'unlocking' from Monday, reported 316 new cases in the last 24 hours, and logged 41 deaths over the same time period.
Here are the updates on coronavirus (COVID-19) cases:
About 500 people were vaccinated during a special vaccination drive organised on Tuesday.
With the Centre and the state having stepped up the COVID-19 vaccination drive, a 36-year-old man in Assam's Dhubri district has taken it upon himself to convince people, especially those from the underprivileged sections, about the efficacy of the jabs amid reports that many were hesitant to get themselves inoculated.
Stating that he has taken a pledge to free Dhubri of coronavirus, Dipankar Mazumder, a medical representative by profession, is moving from one door to another on his motorcycle trying to bust all myths surrounding the available COVID-19 vaccines.
Mr Mazumder, popularly known as the ''vaccine man'', told PTI that he has so far succeeded in persuading 80 people to visit nearby inoculation centres.
A government report has, for the first time, acknowledged one death in India due to vaccination.
The report is by the National Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFI) committee under the Union Health Ministry. Of the 31 cases, 28 are deaths.
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Haryana reports 528 fresh #COVID19 cases, 940 recoveries, and 40 deaths today
- ANI (@ANI) June 9, 2021
Active cases 7079
Case tally 7,64,094 pic.twitter.com/SJlk0wkkgA
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Sri Lanka began injecting pregnant women with a Chinese coronavirus vaccine on Wednesday and Nepal resumed inoculations with a China-made jab as India's neighbours turn to Beijing and Moscow for help with supplies.
Nepal halted inoculations at the end of May after its stock of AstraZeneca shots and Chinese Sinopharm jabs ran short.
The programme resumed on Tuesday after a million more Sinopharm doses arrived from China, the only country that has so far responded to its appeals for help.
The national capital is in for considerable relief on the Covid vaccination front with the state receiving key supplies of both Covishield and Covaxin. An acute shortage of doses had forced the government to suspend the inoculation drive for the 18-44 years age group towards the end of May till some supplies were restored last week.
The state has now received 1,27,420 doses of Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute. This is for use among adults in the 18-44 years age group.
Besides, it has also got 20,000 more doses of Covaxin for the same set of people. This vaccine is produced by the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech which also developed it together with the Indian Council of Medical Research.
Delhi reported 337 new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours with a positivity rate of 0.46 per cent - a slight increase from Tuesday's figures - according to the health bulletin on Wednesday. The city's total caseload now stands at 14,30,128.
Thirty-six Covid patients died in the last 24 hours in Delhi taking the death count in the national capital to 24,704. The death rate in the capital stood at 1.73 per cent.
The city recorded 316 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday and 41 related fatalities, while the positivity rate stood at 0.44%, according to the Delhi government's data.
Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Wednesday held talks with US Charge D'Affaires Daniel B Smith focusing on ways to combat the coronavirus pandemic including supply of COVID-19 vaccines.
External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said regional issues, and cooperation in the United Nations also figured in the "productive meeting".
As many as 25,06,41,440 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been provided to states/Union Territories so far, free of cost by the central government, informed the Union Health Ministry.
As per data available till 8 am today, out of the total vaccine doses given, the total consumption, including wastages is 23,74,21,808 doses.
China administered about 14.8 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines on June 8, bringing the total number administered to 808.96 million, data from the National Health Authority showed on Wednesday.
Singapore has found the Delta variant of the coronavirus to be the most prevalent among local cases of variants of concern (VOCs), according to health ministry data, highlighting its level of infectiousness.
There were 449 local cases with VOCs as of May 31, of which 428 were the Delta variant first detected in India and nine of the Beta variant first identified in South Africa, the health ministry said in emailed statement on Wednesday.
Singapore authorities first reported the presence locally of the Delta variant in early May.
US President Joe Biden and the country's top medical expert Anthony Fauci have sounded a warning about the highly infectious Delta variant that was first found in India, and which is now the dominant strain in the United Kingdom.
The Delta variant now accounts for more than 6 per cent of the cases being sequenced in the U.S., said Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and an adviser.
The actual number is likely higher, as the U.S. is running the genetic sequence on a fraction of cases.
The top White House official for Asia said that by the end of 2022 the target would be met, despite the COVID-19 crisis in India, where they are proposed to be made. Campbell said that he is "relatively confident on the production of a billion vaccine doses for the region".
"The weekly positivity rate is currently at 5.66 per cent while the daily positivity rate stands at 4.66 per cent today. It has remained less than 10 per cent for 16th consecutive days now," the health ministry said.
Health authorities have been battling an outbreak of the coronavirus, including the highly infectious Delta strain, since the first new locally acquired case was recorded in late May, ANI reported.
This will be the first Standing Committee meeting with physical presence amid the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, ANI reported.
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