11.01 am: The coronavirus tally in Jharkhand rises to 1,11,510 after 144 more people test positive in the state, NDTV reports. The toll climbs to 999 with four fresh fatalities. There are 1,571 active cases, while 1,08,940 have recovered so far.

10.58 am: Andaman and Nicobar Islands reports 13 more coronavirus cases, pushing the tally in the Union Territory to 4,818, reports NDTV. There are 84 active cases, 61 deaths and 4,673 recoveries in the archipelago.

10.54 am: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the first batch of Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine has arrived in the country. “This is good news,” he tweets. “But our fight against Covid-19 is not over. Now more than ever, let’s keep up our vigilance. Keep wearing your masks, washing your hands, avoiding gatherings, and using CovidAlert.”

10.50 am: Former Bihar Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi tests positive for the coronavirus. In a tweet, Manjhi appeals to all those who have come in contact with him in the last seven days to get tested for the infection.

10.44 am: Telangana reports 384 new coronavirus cases, three deaths and 631 discharges on Sunday, reports ANI. The overall tally climbs to 2,78,108, including 7,380 active infections, 2,69,232 recoveries and 1,496 fatalities.

10.38 am: Uttarakhand Health Secretary Amit Negi says the the preparation for Covid-19 vaccination programme was underway on a war footing, ANI reports. He adds that the inoculation process will start as soon as the state receives the vaccines.

9.30 am: India records 27,071 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours on Monday. The country has reported less than 40,000 cases for 15 days now. This is also the third time in December that the daily cases tally was below 30,000.

The overall tally is now 98,84,100, while the toll has increased by 336 to 1,43,355. The number of active cases, meanwhile, is 3,52,586, while as many as 93,88,159 people have recovered.

9.20 am: India has tested over 15.45 crore samples for the coronavirus so far, an update from the Indian Council of Medical Research shows. More than 8 lakh samples were tested on Sunday alone.

9.10 am: The United States expects to have vaccinated 100 million, or 10 crore, people by the end of March, Reuters reports, citing the the Chief Adviser for the US COVID-19 vaccine program Dr Moncef Slaoui.

9 am: Italy on Sunday crossed Britain to become the country with the maximum number of coronavirus deaths in Europe. Italy’s toll stood at 64,520, while Britain’s was 64,267, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

8.50 am: Clinical scientist Gagandeep Kang says that though coronavirus vaccines are being developed in a short period of time, there has been no compromise in their clinical testing, PTI reports.

“What has changed is the approach to the testing where all steps that used to happen between phases of clinical trials have been cut out, which means regulators are working much longer and harder than they ever have before,” he tells the news agency in an interview.

8.40 am: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates warns that the next four to six months could be the worst of the coronavirus pandemic, CNN reports.

“The IHME [Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation] forecast shows over 2,00,000 additional deaths,” he adds. “If we would follow the rules, in terms of wearing masks and not mixing, we could avoid a large percentage of those deaths.”

The philanthropist’s foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has been involved in the efforts to develop vaccines.

8.30 am: The United States will begin the first round of vaccinations from Monday, BBC reports. White House staff members who work closely with President Trump will receive the shots soon, The New York Times reports.

On Sunday, the first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine left a facility in Michigan, from where it will be shipped to all 50 states for distribution.

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Here are the top updates from Sunday