Srinagar: With fresh nearly 67,000 COVID cases in last 24 hours, the tally in India rose to 23,96,637 on Thursday.
According to the latest data released by the Health and Family Welfare Ministry of India, the death toll also increased from 46,091 to 47,033 in a day.
Globally, over 20 million people have been infected with the novel coronavirus, including 7,47,845 deaths.
The United States continues to remain the worst affected followed by Brazil and India.
The virus has spread to many countries and territories since it first originated in China’s Wuhan in December 2019.
There are over 150 coronavirus vaccines in various stages of development in several countries with a few making advanced progress in clinical trials.
On August 11, Russia said that after completing all the three phases of human clinical trials successfully, the country’s one of coronavirus vaccine candidates, developed by Gamaleya Research Institute and the Russian Defence Ministry, is scheduled to launch on 12 August.
The vaccine was launched by Russian President Vladimir Putin, touting it as the world’s first such vaccine.
The president, according to reports, has asked the country’s Health Minister Mikhail Murashko to keep him informed about the vaccine and developments related to it.
In India, a Pune based vaccine manufacturer, the Serum Institute of India (SII) has decided to manufacture 100 million COVID vaccine doses which will be capped at Rs 225 per dose.
While the Oxford coronavirus vaccine and a Chinese vaccine showing positive results in the first round of human trials, the Moderna has shown positive results among mice and developed immunity against the disease upon testing.
India’s Covaxin, developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech has also entered the human trial stage and is expected to come out with results in a month.
However, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned world governments against “vaccine nationalism” and urged leaders to make plans on how to share life-saving inoculations against coronavirus.
WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the threat of COVID can only be snuffed out with global coordination, especially when a vaccine is developed.
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