LIVE: Covid-19 vaccine recipients won't get to choose from two options

Coronavirus live updates: Just 12,448 fresh Covid-19 cases recorded in India in the last 24 hours took the tally to 10,479,879. Globally, 91.2 million people have been infected by the virus

5:16 PM

First consignment of Covid-19 vaccine from Serum Institute arrived at Hyderabad

The first consignment of COVID-19 vaccines from Serum Institute of India arrived at Hyderabad airport on Tuesday, confirmed the airport's CEO Pradeep Panicker.

 

"The first consignment of COVID vaccines from Serum Institute has arrived at Hyderabad airport. The first consignment of Bharat Biotech will be going to 11 destinations outside the state by this evening," Panicker told media. "So the vaccine programme has started and we are very happy to be part of it. Hyderabad airport is fully geared up to handle all the cargo, both which is coming in from outside and which is going out of Hyderabad airport," he said.

 

The vaccine transportation has started from Pune to 13 locations across the country, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Tuesday.

5:07 PM

Both vaccines Covishield and Covaxin authorised for emergency use: Health Ministry

4:49 PM

WHO experts to directly fly to Wuhan to probe Covid-19 origins amid virus spike in China

A 10-member team of WHO experts assigned to probe the origins of COVID-19 will directly fly from Singapore to the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in December 2019, amid a resurgence of the deadly disease in several cities close to Beijing, prompting lockdowns.

 

"Current plan is that they will fly from Singapore to Wuhan on January 14," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a media briefing here on Tuesday.

 

He, however, said he has no details whether the experts would have to undergo quarantine and what is their itinerary and how long the team would stay in Wuhan and directed the media to the relevant authorities.

 

Observers say it is significant that the 10-member expert team is commencing their much-delayed probe from Wuhan from where COVID-19 emerged in December last year before it became a pandemic, killing over 1,944,750 people worldwide so far.

4:37 PM

1.1 crore doses of Covishield vaccine being procured from Serum Institute of India at Rs 200 per dose: Govt

4:14 PM

In India, active cases are continue to decline in a steady manner: Health Ministry

4:13 PM

Only two states have more than 50,000 active cases - Maharashtra and Kerala: Health Ministry

4:03 PM

LIVE: Health Ministry briefing on coronavirus situation in India

3:36 PM

We make 70-80 million doses every month: Serum Institute of India CEO

3:31 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Andhra Pradesh gets 4.96 lakh doses from Covaxin

Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday received 4.96 lakh doses of Covaxin, the much awaited coronavirus vaccine. A special cargo plane brought the vaccine to the Vijayawada airport from Pune on Tuesday afternoon. From there the consignment was shifted to the state vaccine depot in Gannavaram.

 

State Health Commissioner Katamaneni Bhaskar said the first consignment of vaccine doses would be sufficient to vaccinate about 3.7 lakh health care workers in the first round beginning January 16.

 

The state government made elaborate arrangements for storing the vaccine in temperature-controlled cold storage units. Refrigerated vans will be used to transport the vaccine to over 1,900 session sites where the chosen healthcare workers will be given the vaccine from January 16.

2:35 PM

First consignment of Covishield vaccine by Serum Institute of India arrives in Kolkata

1:59 PM

SpiceJet inks MoU with Brussels Airport for transportation of Covid-19 vaccines

SpiceJet has signed an agreement with Belgium's Brussels Airport for providing seamless transportation of COVID-19 vaccines, according to an official statement issued on Tuesday. As a part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), Brussels Airport would provide assistance to SpiceJet with regards to slots, networking contracts etc. for speedy delivery of vaccines, it noted.

 

"The airline's cargo arm, SpiceXpress, envisions to provide rapid and secure transportation of COVID-19 vaccine from and to Europe and beyond with proper temperature-controlled mechanism under the MoU," the SpiceJet's statement said.

 

As part of this association, Brussels Airport will be SpiceJet's first flight point for Europe, it mentioned. As strategic partners, both SpiceJet and Brussels Airport Company NV will jointly work with the government, pharma companies and forwarders to ensure a reliable ecosystem for vaccine delivery in a temperature-controlled environment, it said.

11:39 AM

Tamil Nadu schools to open from January 19

Tamil Nadu schools to open from January 19

11:30 AM

Jharkhand reports 144 fresh Covid-19 cases, one more death

Jharkhand reported one more fatality due to Covid-19, pushing the death toll to 1,048, while the tally mounted to 1,16,961 with 144 fresh cases, a health department official said on Tuesday.

 

The new fatality was reported from Bokaro district, he said.

 

Ranchi registered the maximum number of fresh cases at 71, followed by East Singhbhum at 15 and Dhanbad at 14.

11:04 AM

Coronavirus LIVE: Saina Nehwal, HS Prannoy test positive for Covid-19

Saina Nehwal was forced to withdraw from the Thailand Open in Bangkok after she tested positive for coronavirus, it was reported on Tuesday. This is the second time Saina has caught coronavirus, having recovered from it only a few weeks ago.

9:57 AM

Covid-19 vaccine: Centre will bear cost of Phase 1, says Narendra Modi

The first phase of the Covid-19 vaccination will incur no cost for the state governments, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday. While announcing that the Centre will bear the full cost, he also said politicians should not opt for the vaccine in Phase 1, which begins on January 16 and is meant to cover frontline workers, which include health workers (both private and government), security and armed forces staff, and sanitation workers.

 

Modi was interacting with chief ministers of all states to discuss the Covid-19 situation and the preparations for the vaccine roll-out in the country. Read on...