Covid Cases: Five vaccine candidates are in advanced stages of development in India (Representational)
Ambassadors and envoys from 100 countries will visit Serum Institute of India and Gennova Biopharmaceuticals Ltd in Pune on December 4 amid the coronavirus outbreak and race for vaccines to combat the infection, a senior official said on Tuesday.
Pune Divisional Commissioner Saurabh Rao said there was a possibility that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would also visit Pune, adding that "if the visit happens, it would be at Serum Institute of India and Gennova Biophramaceuticals", news agency PTI reported.
According to a report, an estimated one crore frontline health workers will receive the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine whenever it becomes available.
Five vaccine candidates are in advanced stages of development in India, out of which four are in Phase II/III and one is in Phase-I/II trials.
On Tuesday, PM Modi had warned that any COVID-19 vaccine could lead to side-effects in some people, as even popular medicines do, and that the government would only go by science in finalising one for the country.
Here are the LIVE updates on Coronavirus Cases:
1.24 lakh beds added to 1,426 hospitals in State: Kerala Chief Minister to PM Modi
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi that a total of 1.24 lakh new beds were added to 1,426 hospitals in the state.
Participating in a virtual meeting held by Modi with chief ministers of states witnessing a spike in the COVID-19 cases, Vijayan informed him about the steps taken by Kerala in containing the COVID-19.
"We have been able to reduce the pressure on hospitals with the widespread opening of covid Firstline Treatment Centers (FLTCs). In addition to the existing hospital beds, 1.24 lakh new beds have been set up in 1,426 institutions. The government has set up extensive facilities for testing. There are currently 2,113 labs for testing in both the government and private sectors. 58.09 lakh tests have already been conducted. About 30 per cent of these are RT-PCR tests," Mr Vijayan said.
Travellers from Delhi, Rajasthan, Goa and Gujarat arriving at Mumbai to undergo mandatory RT-PCR test from today
Coronavirus Updates: US to distribute 6.4 million Covid vaccine doses in first tranche
The United States plans to distribute 6.4 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in the first week after it is cleared for emergency use, which is likely next month, officials said Tuesday.
A committee of the Food and Drug Administration meets on December 10 to decide whether to green light the medicine, with the US confronted by soaring numbers of deaths and new cases.
Latest figures on Tuesday showed that the country had recorded a total of 259,600 Covid deaths and 12.5 million cases -- with over 2,000 deaths and 167,000 new cases in just the last 24 hours.
French President Emmanuel Macron poised to soften lockdown as virus caseload drops
French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to announce lighter coronavirus restrictions on Tuesday thanks to a recent drop in new infections, paving the way for shops to reopen swiftly and allow travel for Christmas.
In an evening television address, Macron began outlining France's strategy to procure coronavirus vaccines as trial successes reported by some laboratories spark a worldwide scramble for Covid shots.
"At this point, we will see a slight relaxing of the lockdown," Prime Minister Jean Castex told leaders of Macron's LREM party hours before the president's primetime appearance, participants told AFP.
Coronavirus news: 6 employees of Punjab Raj Bhavan test positive for Covid
As many as six employees of the Punjab Raj Bhavan, including Principal Secretary to the Governor, have tested positive for Covid-19, the Raj Bhavan said on Tuesday.
As many as 614 new Covid-19 cases and 22 deaths were reported from Punjab in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of active cases to 6,834, ANI reported.
Coronavirus news: Odisha records 642 new COVID-19 cases, 14 more deaths
Odisha's COVID-19 caseload on Tuesday mounted to 3,15,271 after 642 more people tested positive for the infection, while 14 fresh fatalities took the state's death count to 1,671, a health department official said.
Of the 642 new cases, 374 were reported from various quarantine centres, and the remaining detected during contact tracing, PTI reported.
