India on Wednesday registered 2,08,921 fresh cases of the novel coronavirus and 4,157 deaths, taking the total death toll to 3,11,388. A total of 2,95,955 patients were discharged in the last 24 hours, pushing the total recovery to 2,43,50,816. The total cases of COVID-19 in the country stand at 2,71,57,795 with 24,95,591 active cases.
So far a total of 20,06,62,456 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in India.
With 22.17 lakh tests being conducted in 24 hours, India has set another highest covid testing record.
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The Health Ministry on Wednesday said the recovery rate has now increased to 89.66 per cent.
"Our planet will not be the same after COVID19. We now have a better understanding of the pandemic now. We have the vaccine. India is proud of our scientists," Prime Minister Narendra Modi said this morning. He also salutes the frontline workers, doctors, nurses who selflessly risk their lives every day to serve others in need. He has also sent his condolences to the ones suffering and who have lost their dear ones.
Meanwhile, Moderna is in talks with Cipla and other Indian firms to launch a single-dose Covid vaccine in India next year, while another American drugmaker Pfizer is offering 5 crore shots in 2021 itself but it wants significant regulatory relaxations including indemnification, sources said on Tuesday.
Covid cases are surging in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, whereas Maharashtra, which has the highest overall caseload has been recording a decrease in the number of cases. Maharashtra reported 24,136 new cases of Coronavirus in the last 24 hours, Kerala logged 29,803 cases and 34,285 cases were filed in Tamil Nadu.
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On Tuesday, the centre told the states to increase the pace of vaccination. States have been urged repeatedly to keep vaccine wastage below 1%, many States like Jharkhand (37.3%), Chhattisgarh (30.2%), Tamil Nadu (15.5%), Jammu & Kashmir (10.8%), Madhya Pradesh (10.7%) are reporting much higher wastage than the national average (6.3%), the Ministry of Health stated.