Here are the top updates from Monday:

  1. A study published in medical journal The Lancet said that it was not appropriate to give booster doses of Covid-19 vaccine to the general population at this stage of the pandemic as the efficacy of the shots against severe cases, even for the Delta variant, was high, reported PTI. The authors said the efficacy of all types of vaccines is greater against cases of severe disease than against mild ones.
  2. India registered 27,254 new coronavirus cases, pushing the country’s overall tally of infections since the outbreak of the pandemic in January last year to 3,32,64,175. The new cases were 4.6% lower than Sunday’s count of 28,591. The country’s toll rose to 4,42,874 as it recorded 219 deaths in the last day.
  3. India crossed the 75 crore mark in administering Covid-19 vaccine doses to beneficiaries since the immunisation drive began in January, according to CoWin portal data. As many as 18,04,49,440 beneficiaries have received both the shots.
  4. Dr NK Arora, chairperson of the Covid-19 working group, said that Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin will likely receive the World Health Organization’s Emergency Use Listing within a week, reported ANI. 
  5. The Supreme Court asked the Centre to reconsider its decision to exclude those who were infected with Covid-19 disease and died by suicide from getting compensation under the government’s guidelines, reported PTI. The statement came after the Centre issued fresh guidelines to simplify the process of giving death certificates to people who died of the infection.
  6. The Haryana government relaxed the mandatory 84-day gap between the two doses of the Covishield vaccine for people who are required to travel abroad, reported The Indian Express.   
  7. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that the trust between government and industry is crucial for leveraging the opportunities created by the coronavirus pandemic, reported PTI. The minister said the government was focused on boosting the vaccination drive as well as ramping up health infrastructure.
  8. Maharashtra Higher and Technical Education Minister Uday Samant told PTI the academic year in colleges will begin from November 1 but the decision to resume physical classes will be taken later based on the coronavirus situation. 
  9. Telangana Director of Public Health G Srinivasa Rao observed that the third coronavirus wave will occur only if a new and strong variant emerges. He stressed that citizens should compulsorily take vaccines.
  10. Globally, the coronavirus has now infected over 22.48 crore people and killed more than 46.33 lakh since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University.