India's daily rise in Covid cases remained below the 1 lakh-mark for eight straight day with 60,471 new infections. After health infrastructure was strained by the second Covid wave, states are taking strong measures in anticipation of a third wave.
The country's daily Covid cases hit record high on May 7 when 4.14 lakh infections were reported. Today's daily rise is the lowest since March 31. The positivity rate stood at 3.45 per cent. 2.95 crore total cases have reported so far and over 3.7 lakh people have died; 2,726 people died since yesterday.
Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine is more than 90 per cent effective, including against coronavirus variants, the vaccine maker said Monday after a large-scale US study.
The jab "demonstrated 100% protection against moderate and severe disease, 90.4% efficacy overall," the company said in a statement, adding "the study enrolled 29,960 participants across 119 sites in the U.S. and Mexico to evaluate efficacy, safety and immunogenicity."
The Maryland-headquartered company said it intended to apply for regulatory approval by the third quarter of 2021, AFP.
Meanwhile, people infected with COVID-19's delta variant, first detected in India, are more than twice as likely to end up in the hospital than with the alpha variant identified in the U.K. last year.
Vaccines from Pfizer Inc. and AstraZeneca Plc protect against delta, researchers said Monday. They found the shot made by Pfizer and partner BioNTech SE offered better protection in a large study from Scotland, Bloomberg reported.
Schools, colleges and educational institutions will remain shut.