Coronavirus India Updates: New Cases Drop Marginally; Centre Boosts Vaccine Supply To States
Track the latest updates on the second wave of Covid-19 in India here.
Fresh cases of Covid-19 in India dropped for a second day, albeit marginally, as the country’s healthcare system continued to battle an unprecedented outbreak.
Over 3.68 lakh people tested positive for the virus in a 24-hour period, according to the Health Ministry’s update as of 8 a.m. on May 3. Active infections crossed 34 lakh for the first time ever.
More than 3,000 patients succumbed to the illness for the sixth straight day, overwhelming the country’s crematoriums and burial grounds. That took the total death toll above to 2.18 lakh.
Key Numbers:
- Total confirmed cases: 1,99,25,604
- Total number of active cases: 34,13,642
- Total patients cured/discharged: 1,62,93,003
- Total deaths: 2,18,959
- Number of fresh cases in last 24 hours: 3,68,147
- One-day recoveries: 3,00,732
- One-day deaths: 3,417
The central government will supply 56 lakh vaccine doses to states in the next three days, said a May 2 press release by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. This will help states accelerate vaccination of those above 45 years of age as well as healthcare and frontline workers.
To vaccinate those aged between 18-45, states will have to procure their own supply.
Mumbai’s Covid-19 Vaccination Plan
Serum Discloses Order Of 11 Crore Doses From Centre
Serum Institute of India has said that it will supply 11 crore doses of Covishield to the Government of India over the next few months.
The Pune-based company has already received Rs 1,732 crore as a 100% advance payment for those 11 crore doses, it said in a media statement. That will be over and above the 15 crore doses that the company has already supplied.
Besides the Centre's supply, another 11 crore doses will be made available for states and private hospitals in the next few months, Serum said.
Centre Clarifies On Vaccine Orders
The central government put up a separate statement to clarify that it has placed orders for additional vaccines from the two manufacturers Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech.
In March, the Centre had ordered 10 crore doses of Covishield from Serum. Of those, as of May 3, over 8.7 crore doses had been received.
The government had also ordered 2 crore doses of Covaxin from Bharat Biotech. It has received 0.88 crore doses from that order as of May 3.
Additionally, the government also placed an order for 5 crore doses of Covaxin to be supplied in May, June and July, it said in the release. For this, the government has paid a 100% advance of Rs 787.5 crore.