Coronavirus India Updates: New Infections, Deaths Drop Marginally; Government Seeks Vaccine Price Cuts
Track the latest developments in India’s second wave of Covid-19 here.
Fresh cases of Covid-19 in India dropped marginally from the all-time high recorded on Monday, at a time the centre and the states seek to expand an inoculation drive that would help contain the unprecedented spread of infections.
More than 3.2 lakh people tested positive for the virus in a 24-hour period, taking active infections to 28.8 lakh, according to the Health Ministry’s update as of 8 a.m. on April 27.
Deaths due to the coronavirus continued to overwhelm the country’s crematoriums and burial grounds but, daily fatalities dropped marginally from Monday’s record. 2,771 people succumbed to the illness in just 24 hours, taking India’s total death toll to 1.97 lakh.
Key Numbers
- Total confirmed cases: 1,76,36,307
- Total number of active cases: 28,82,204
- Total patients cured/discharged/migrated: 1,45,56,209
- Total deaths: 1,97,894
- Number of fresh cases in last 24 hours: 3,23,144
- One-day recoveries: 2,51,827
- One-day deaths: 2,771
- Total vaccine doses administered: 14,52,71,186
The central government directed Serum Institute of India Ltd. and Bharat Biotech International Ltd. to reduce prices of their coronavirus vaccines, PTI reported citing people it didn't identify.
- The Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech has fixed the price of its vaccine, Covaxin, at Rs 600 per dose for state governments and at Rs 1,200 per dose for private hospitals.
- The Pune-based Serum had announced a price of Rs 400 per dose for 'Covishield', for state governments and Rs 600 per dose for private hospitals.
- Both vaccines are available to the central government at a rate of Rs 150 per dose.
Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Sikkim and Goa have said they would bear the cost of vaccinations for everyone between the age of 18 and 45. The centre has announced free vaccines for all above 45 years.
Centre Says Provided Over 15 Crore Free Vaccine Doses To States
The central government today said it has provided over 15 crore vaccine doses to states and union territories for free.
Of this, the total consumption including wastages is 14.64 crore, a press statement said. Over 1 crore doses are still available with the states that are yet to be administered, it said.
Over the next three days, 80 lakh additional doses will be received by the states and union territories, the government said.
Specifically pointing to Maharashtra, the centre said that there is no shortage of vaccines in the state. As on April 27, Maharashtra had received 1.58 crore doses. Of this 1.49 crore has been used, including wastage, while 9.23 lakh doses are still available, the statement said. Another 3 crore doses are in the pipeline for delivery over the next three days, it said.
