India’s Coronavirus Tally Rises To 8.2 Million

FILE PHOTO: Passengers wearing protective face masks stand in a queue on a platform to get tested for the coronavirus disease in New Delhi

India recorded 45,231 new coronavirus infections, taking its total cases to 8.23 million, the Health Ministry said on Monday.

New daily cases in India have been falling since September, but experts warn that infections could rise again during the festival season.

The country has the world’s second-highest caseload, behind the United States, which has more than 9 million.

There were 496 deaths in the last 24 hours from the coronavirus, taking total deaths to 122,607.

Meanwhile, Bharat Biotech is planning to launch its COVID-19 vaccine candidate in the second quarter of 2021 if it gets approval from regulatory authorities, a company executive said on Sunday.

The company, which has received initial approval from the Drugs Controller General of India to conduct late-stage trials for its vaccine candidate COVAXIN, said it plans to conduct recruitment and dosage for the Phase-3 trials in November.

The trial will be conducted in 25 sites in 10-12 states and will provide two doses each for the vaccine and placebo recipients, the company’s Executive Director Sai Prasad said.

The company, based in Hyderabad, is developing the vaccine in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research. Bharat Biotech is also in talks with more than 10 countries that have shown an interest in its potential COVID-19 vaccine.