Coronavirus live updates: Gyms to open, weddings with 50 people allowed in Delhi

According to the ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW), as many as 1,45,21,067 balance and unutilised Covid vaccine doses are still available with the states and UTs to be administered. As many as 31,17,01,800 vaccine doses have been provided by the government to states and UTs so far, through the government of India (free of cost channel) and through the direct state procurement category.

Vaccine major Serum Institute of India (SII) is all set to start phase 2 and 3 paediatric trials of Covovax on 920 children — 460 each in the 12-17 and 2-11 age groups — from next month. The recombinant nanoparticle protein-based vaccine —NVX-CoV2373 — developed by American biotechnology firm Novavax has been branded as Covovax in India. It will be the fourth Covid-19 vaccine to undergo clinical trials for children in India.

The second wave of Covid-19 is not yet over though a large part of the country is out of it, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) director general Dr Balram Bhargava said, underlining the need for district level monitoring of test positivity rate to ensure any outbreak is contained locally and a major third wave is averted. Currently, 565 districts have weekly test positivity at less than 5%. However, 75 districts still have over 10% positivity, whereas 92 districts have positivity rate between 5-10%.

A year ago, Gyaneshwar B was zipping across the streets of Hyderabad in his new sedan cab earning enough for his family before the Covid-19 pandemic shattered his dreams of decent city life. Road Transport Authority officials and the taxi associations confirm that an estimated 40,000-45,000 cab drivers have lost their vehicles due to the Covid-induced lockdowns.

Booming guns and skirmishes with the security forces in deep jungles are not the main sources of worry for Maoists at present. It is the dreaded coronavirus that hangs over their heads like a sword of Damocles in the red corridor spread across Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Odisha. Though vector-borne chikungunya, dengue and malaria had claimed several lives of left-wing extremists operating from the jungles, the deadly effect of Covid-19 on top Maoist guns and cadres in the second wave was deep and stark.

Nehru Place market, which is among Asia’s biggest marketplaces for computer, information technology and electronic goods, is open once again after the lockdown, but a visit there suggested that it could become a Covid-19 super spreader if urgent measures weren’t taken. Violation of Covid-appropriate behaviour is rampant there, not helped by the return of a crowd of apparently unauthorised street vendors and the ongoing redevelopment work that has left the lanes dug up and inconvenient for customers.