Rise in Covid: 14,506 new cases, 30 die

India witnessed a 23 per cent rise in its daily Covid-19 cases with the addition of 14,506 infections in the last 24 hours. With this, the cumulative national caseload has reached 43,433,345, including 525,077 related fatalities, of which 30 were recorded in the same time span. As many as 11,574 patients also recovered from the infection, leaving a total of 99,602 active cases in the country.

The daily positivity rate was recorded at 3.35 per cent, almost equal to the weekly positivity rate, which was recorded at 3.36 per cent. The active cases comprise 0.23 per cent of the total infections, while the recovery rate has been recorded at 98.56 per cent.

Of the 86.19 crore tests conducted for Covid so far, 4,33,659 were done in the last 24 hours. On the vaccination front, 13,44,748 more doses of Covid -19 vaccines were administered, pushing the total number of jabs administered till now to over 197.46 crore.

A day after India’s drug regulator approved Covovax for restricted emergency use in children aged 7 to 11 years, the vaccine maker Serum Institute has written to the Centre seeking its inclusion in the national Covid-19 vaccination programme in the interest of public health. In a letter to the Union health ministry, Prakash Kumar Singh, director, government and regulatory affairs at Serum Institute of India stated that Covovax is highly immunogenic with more than 98 per cent seroconversion in 7 to less than 12 years age group.

The vaccine is reported to be safe, effective and well tolerated in this age group. According to the letter, the firm is also receiving requests from various sections of the society pan India to make vaccine available in government and private hospitals in view of increasing Covid-19 infections.

◗ A DAY after India’s drug regulator approved Covovax for restricted emergency use in children aged 7 to 11 years, vaccine-maker Serum Institute has written to the Centre seeking its inclusion in the Covid-19 vaccination programme