India on Sunday registered 1,52,879 new coronavirus cases, data from the health ministry showed. The country’s overall count of infections since the pandemic broke out last March rose to 1,33,58,805. This is India’s biggest one-day rise in cases since the beginning of the pandemic, according to NDTV.

The toll went up to 1,69,275 with 839 more deaths in the last day. India’s tally of active cases stood at 11,08,087, while the number of recoveries reached 1,20,81,443. More than 10 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far.

Source: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare

From Sunday, India began a four-day vaccination festival despite complaints of shortages by several states. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called for the “tika utsav” on Thursday, during his meeting with chief ministers to discuss the coronavirus situation in India.

Modi appealed to the citizens to “vaccinate, treat and save” one person each. “This celebration is, in a way, the beginning of another major war against coronavirus,” he said. “In this, we have to put special emphasis on personal as well as social hygiene.”

Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and several other states have stepped up efforts to double the number of vaccinations during the inoculation festival, NDTV reported.

Vaccine stock will last only three days: Telangana

Telangana on Saturday told the Centre that its vaccine stocks would last for only three more days, NDTV reported. The state asked the Centre to provide it 30 lakh vaccines for the next 15 days

Punjab and Delhi also told the Centre that they were grappling with shortages amid a surge in infections. Vaccine centres in several states, including Maharashtra, have been shutting early and turning people away due to a lack of supplies.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Saturday accused the Narendra Modi government of mismanaging the coronavirus situation in the country. “It [government] has exported the vaccines and allowed a shortage to be created in India,” she said.

State updates

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