Coronavirus live updates: Oxford Covid vaccine 'safe and well-tolerated' in older age groups

'Initially we faced a shortage of PPE kits, ventilators and N-95 masks. But in a few months time, we were able to export these things to different parts of the world', the health minister said.

Giving an account of the journey of the last 11 months, the Minister said India was amongst the top countries to control the impact of the pathogen in a short duration.

'The government has been very proactive in its response towards this fight. Airports, seaports and land borders were put under surveillance for Covid-19 well in time,' Vardhan added.

'Janta curfew was a very innovative and unique experiment by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It had nationwide participation from the citizens. The decision to impose a lockdown followed by unlocking were some bold decisions by the central government during the pandemic. We have handled it very well,' the Minister said.

Praising the efforts of the Central government, the Minister said some 'very bold steps' were taken to fight the pandemic in the last few months.

I am confident that Covid-19 vaccine will be ready in the next three-four months. Priority for the vaccine will be designed on the basis of scientific data. Health care workers and corona warriors will naturally be prioritised followed by elderly and disease-prone people. Very detailed planning is underway for vaccine dissemination. An e-vaccine intelligence platform has been created to discuss the blueprint for the same. Tracking and tracing of the vaccine would be neck-deep once it's available for the public. Hopefully, 2021 should be a better year for all of us.

Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said he was confident that Covid-19 vaccine would be ready in the next three-four months and added that the priority to provide the same to 135 crore Indians would be based on scientific evaluation.

Delhi HC says AAP govt submission in court on rise in Covid-19 cases in the national capital was contrary to press statements by its ministers.

I told all parties in the meet that it's a difficult time for the people of Delhi when Covid cases are rising. It's not the time for politics, there is an entire lifetime for it. We should set aside politics & allegations for a few days. This is the time to serve people: Delhi CM

The high court was hearing a PIL by advocate Rakesh Malhotra seeking increase in the Covid-19 testing numbers in the national capital and getting speedy results.

It said there appeared to be substantial disparity in monitoring and imposition of fines in certain districts as compared to others.

The bench also said the fines being imposed -- Rs 500 for first violation and Rs 1,000 for every subsequent violation -- did not appear to be a deterrent.

On implementation of social distancing norms, prevention of spitting and wearing of masks, the court was not satisfied with the monitoring being done by the Delhi government in some districts where Covid-19 numbers were high.

'Why did we have to shake you out of your slumber on November 11? What did you do from November 1 till November 11? Why did you wait 18 days (till November 18) to take a decision. Do you know how many lives were lost during this period? Can you explain it to those who lost their near and dear ones,' the bench asked.

Pulling up the Delhi government, a bench of Justices Hima Kohli and Subramonium Prasad asked why it waited till the court intervened to take steps such as reducing the number of people attending weddings to 50 to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

The Delhi High Court on Thursday asked Delhi's AAP government if it could explain to those who had lost their near and dear ones to Covid-19 in the last 18 days why the administration did not take steps when cases were spiralling in the city.