India reported 34,457 new coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, taking the overall Covid-19 tally to 3,23,93,286 on Saturday, while the number of active cases declined to 3,61,340, the lowest in 151 days, according to data from the health ministry on Saturday. 

With 375 fresh fatalities, the Covid-19 death toll also climbed to 4,33,964, the health ministry said. India reports less than 50,000 daily cases for 55 consecutive days.

India has been witnessing between 25,000 and 40,000 new Covid-19 cases every day for the past few weeks, but the rising cases in some states are raising the concerns of a possible third wave. India is just at the tail end of a deadly second wave, during which the country saw a severe shortage of hospital beds, oxygen, and medicines. 

A third wave could make things difficult for India if adequate measures are not in place, especially since it had been predicted by experts that the third wave could impact children more severely, and at a larger scale.

However, on Friday, in a major development for the vaccination drive in India, the country gave emergency-use authorisation to Zydus Cadila’s COVID-19 vaccine. 

The vaccine, which requires three doses to be administered for an individual to be considered fully vaccinated, is key because not only can it be used to vaccinate adults, but children above the age of 12 years can also be inoculated with the help of this vaccine. 

This means that ahead of the third wave, India could likely begin vaccination for children in the age group of 12 years to 18 years.

Source: Financial Express 

BDST: 1437 HRS, AUG 21, 2021
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