Bharat Biotech, makers of Indian coronavirus vaccine Covaxin, announced that they will price the shots at Rs 600 for state governments and Rs 1,200 for private hospitals, making it more expensive than the Covishield vaccine.

Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appealed to his counterparts in other states, asking for “spare oxygen”. His plea comes amid a severe shortage of medical oxygen in the Capital city, which has been crippled by the steep rise in coronavirus cases.

India is in the midst of an unprecedented second wave of the pandemic. On Saturday, it reported 3,46,786 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours, the third consecutive day that the country set a global record for daily infections since the pandemic began last year. With this, the country’s tally of infections rose to 1,66,10,481. As many as 2,624 deaths were registered, taking the toll to 1,89,544.

Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 14.52 crore people and killed over 30.83 lakh since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University. More than 8.35 crore people have recovered from the infection.

Here are updates from the day:

10 pm: Bharat Biotech, the manufacturers of Covaxin, price the vaccine at Rs 600 for state governments and Rs 1,200 for use at private hospitals. The coronavirus vaccine will be exported at around $15-$20 (Rs 1,124 to Rs 1,500) per dose.

9.20 pm: Madhya Pradesh reports 12,918 new cases and a record high of 108 deaths, according to PTI. Meanwhile, Haryana has 10,491 new cases and 60 fatalities.

9.10 pm: West Bengal has a record high of 14,281 new cases in a day, amid election campaigning in the state, reports PTI.

8.52 pm: Here are other the numbers of new cases from other states, according to ANI:

8.43 pm: Maharashtra has 67,190 new coronavirus cases and 676 deaths in the past 24 hours. Of this, Mumbai reports 5,888 new cases – a three-week low, according to News18.

8.35 pm: Karnataka reports nearly 30,000 new cases in a new high, and 208 deaths due to Covid in the past 24 hours. Of these, Bengaluru Urban has 17,342 fresh cases.

7 pm: Here are the numbers of new cases reported from various states in the past 24 hours, according to ANI.

6.47 pm: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal appeals to his counterparts in all states to send oxygen. He adds that though the Centre is assisting Delhi now, the situation is such that “all available resources are proving inadequate”.

6.40 pm: Kerala has 26,685 new cases of coronavirus and 25 more deaths on Saturday, reports PTI.

6 pm: The first case of the India variant of Covid has been found in Switzerland, reports AFP.

5.51 pm: Jammu and Kashmir announces a weekend curfew to curb the number of coronavirus cases, reports News18. The curfew will be in place from 8 pm tonight to 6 am on Monday.

5.49 pm: Uttar Pradesh reports 38,055 new Covid cases and 224 deaths in the past 24 hours, according to News18.

5.45 pm: Six patients have died at a private hospital in Amritsar, Punjab, allegedly due to lack of oxygen. Five of them were being treated for Covid-19, reports NDTV.

The Punjab government says it will investigate the deaths.

“We are probing whether the deaths were due to oxygen shortage, and also who all were contacted by the private hospital amid the crisis,” Health Secretary Hussan Lal says. “The district administration is having its own group for ensuring oxygen supply so we will fix accountability.”

4.55 pm: Poonawalla adds that the situation now “is extremely dire” as the virus is constantly mutating. The Serum Institute thus has to ensure sustainability and must invest in scaling up to fight the pandemic further.

“Only a limited portion of SII’s volume will be sold to private hospitals at INR 600 per dose,” he says. “The price of the vaccine is still lower than a lot of other medical treatment and essentials required to treat Covid-19 and other life-threatening diseases.”

4.45 pm: The Serum Institute of India puts out a note following criticism for the increased pricing of its Covishield vaccine from May 1 for states and private hospitals.

CEO Adar Poonawalla says government procurement rates of the vaccine have been at “far lower prices as the volumes have been very large” so far.

He adds that media reports have made “inaccurate comparisons” of the Covishield price in India and abroad. Poonawalla says initial prices were “kept very low globally as it was based on advance funding given by those countries for at-risk vaccine manufacturing”. He adds, “The initial supply price of Covishield for all government immunisation programmes, including India, has been the lowest.”

4.33 pm: Iran will bar travellers from India during the country’s second coronavirus wave, reports Reuters. “The Indian coronavirus is a new threat we face,” President Hassan Rouhani says. “The Indian virus is more dangerous than the English and Brazilian variants.”

4.24 pm: Telangana announces free Covid vaccines for those above 18 years of age, reports The New Indian Express. “Money is not important,” Chief Minister Chandrasekhar Rao says. “The lives of the people are important for us. That is why we have decided to give Covid-19 vaccine to all.”

He adds there will not be any vaccine shortage as Bharat Biotech, Dr Reddy Labs and others have come forward to produce the doses.

3.56 pm: Kuwait suspends all commercial flights to and from India during the second surge of Covid cases, reports PTI. The decision is effective from today, April 24.

3.53 pm: Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison says his country stands with India during the second wave of the pandemic. “We know how strong and resilient the Indian nation is,” ANI quotes him as saying. “PM Narendra Modi and I will keep working in partnership on this global challenge.”

3.40 pm: Haryana Chief Minister ML Khattar says the state will provide vaccines for free to those aged between 18 and 45 at government hospitals, reports ANI. Khattar says citizens needs to pre-register for the vaccine and will get it for free at these hospitals.

3.07 pm: The central government is waiving customs duty on import of Covid vaccines for three months. Customs duty and health cess on oxygen and any oxygen-related equipment will also be waived, reports PTI.

2.59 pm: Bengaluru, with 1.5 lakh active Covid cases, has the most active cases among all the cities, reports PTI. Karnataka’s Task Advisory Committee is recommending strict measures to contain the outbreak, including a 14-day lockdown in the city to break the transmission chain of the virus.

It adds that the peak of the second wave in Karnataka might be in the last week of May or first week of June.

The committee also predicts a third wave of the virus around October-November, and should vaccinate as many vulnerable groups as possible by then.

2.40 pm: Another hospital in Delhi, Saroj Hospital in Rohini, has run out of oxygen, reports NDTV. The hospital is reportedly asking 150 patients in critical condition to “make alternate arrangements”.

1.35 pm: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan expresses his solidarity with India during its overwhelming second wave of the pandemic. “Our prayers for a speedy recovery go to all those suffering from the pandemic in our neighbourhood & the world,” he tweets. “We must fight this global challenge confronting humanity together.”

12.15 pm: The Delhi High Court says that it will “not spare anyone” who tries to obstruct oxygen supply to treat Covid patients, reports PTI. “We will hang that man,” the court adds.

11.55 am: Medical Director of Delhi’s LNJP Hospital, Suresh Kumar, says that all intensive care units at the facility are full since last four to five days, reports ANI. “Some critical patients need 40 to 50 litre of oxygen per minute to maintain oxygen saturation level,” he adds. “The oxygen supply chain is compromised.”

11.53 am: The Union Territory of Ladakh records 152 new Covid-19 cases, taking the infection count to 13,089, reports PTI.

11.47 am: Congress leader P Chidambaram urges the Centre to make vaccines available to the Indian population at a greater scale. “There are widespread complaints about the lack of supply of vaccines,” he writes on Twitter. “The government’s claim that there is no shortage of vaccines is hollow and untrue.”

The Congress leader adds that while the decision to vaccinate all above the age of 18 was a welcomed, the Centre needs to take into account the “great resentment and protests” it could spark if people are refused doses. “When the surge in demand happens on May 1 and more people flock to hospitals for vaccination, will there be adequate stocks of vaccines all over the country?” he says.

“Is the government prepared for May 1? I am sceptical,” Chidambaram added. “Nevertheless, I urge the government to start preparing NOW in order to meet the much greater demand for vaccines on and after May 1.”

11.44 am: Priced at Rs 600 per dose, Indians getting inoculated with Covishield at private hospitals from May 1 could end up paying the highest price in the world for this vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, reports The Indian Express.

11.37 am: Amid an acute shortage of ramdesivir, around 5,000 vials of this anti-viral drug seized by agencies in Maharashtra are lying unused pending court’s permission, reports PTI.

These vials were seized during the raids conducted by the Food and Drugs Administration and the police department in different parts of Maharashtra in March and April, says an official.

“After the seizure, we have to gather evidence, frame charges and produce the seized stock before the court,” he adds. “The case has to be very strong for the state to win it. Only then, these vials can be used for COVID-19 patients.”

11.34 am: A train carrying tankers of liquefied oxygen arrives in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, reports ANI.

11.29 am: An oxygen tanker arrives in Delhi’s Batra Hospital after the hospital pleaded for fresh supplies, saying it would run out of stocks in another one-and-a-half hour.

However, authorities say the replenishments received were not enough to meet the demand. “We have received only 500-litre of oxygen after pleading for 12 hours,” Medical Director SCL Gupta tells ANI. “Our daily requirement is 8000 litres. We’ve 350 patients in the hospital. The treatment of choice in COVID is oxygen but when we don’t get it what will happen?”

11.28 am: The Customs Department says it will fasten the clearance process for import consignments relating to the coronavirus pandemic, reports ANI.

11.25 am: Bhutan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Tandi Dorji expresses solidarity with India “in this most difficult period of the pandemic”, reports ANI. “Praying and hoping for quick relief and recovery [of the citizens],” he says.

11.22 am: The Delhi High Court is hearing a plea by Maharaja Agrasen Hospital regarding the acute oxygen shortages in the Capital, reports ANI.

9.52 am: Amid the surge in Covid cases in Uttar Pradesh, the Gurdwara Samiti of Indirapuram in Ghaziabad is providing oxygen cylinders to patients, reports PTI.

Though the group isn’t providing cylinders for home, patients can come to the Indirapuram gurdwara and use them till their oxygen levels normalise. The group has helped 250 Covid patients so far.

9.50 am: A night curfew will come into force in Andhra Pradesh from today, reports the Hindustan Times. The restrictions will be in place from 10pm to 5am, the Chief Minister’s Office says.

9.47 am: The Delhi Police arrest a 51-year-old man after 48 oxygen cylinders were seized from his home in the city, reports NDTV. A team of Delhi Police recovered 32 big and 16 small cylinders of oxygen during a raid at the house in the south-west area of the Capital on Friday.

The owner of the house, Anil Kumar, claimed to have a business of industrial oxygen, but could not produce a license for his business, the police say.

9.10 am: The Moolchand hospital in Delhi takes to Twitter to plead with the government to replenish its oxygen, saying they only had supplies worth about two hours left. The hospital has 135 Covid-19 patients, many of whom are on life support.

9.09 am: Some visuals from Maharashtra and Odisha where restrictions have been imposed to contain the spread of Covid-19.

9.06 am: A 61-year-old Covid patient in Bengaluru allegedly dies by suicide after he hanged himself at a city hospital on Friday night, reports ANI, quoting the Karnataka Police.

9.02 am: World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says the situation in India is “a devastating reminder of what the virus can do,” reports AFP.

8.59 am: Pakistani citizens urge Prime Minister Imran Khan to lend support to India as the country scrambles for supplies of oxygen and other emergency aid amid a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

Also read:

Pakistan citizens urge PM Imran Khan on Twitter to help India tide over Covid crisis

8.58 am: Delhi, Bengaluru and Maharashtra on Friday recorded their highest single-day toll from Covid-19 since the pandemic began in January last year.

Read more here:

Coronavirus: Delhi, Maharashtra and Bengaluru record highest single-day toll

Here are the top updates from Friday

  1. India on Friday reported a record-breaking 3,32,730 new cases, taking the total number of infections to 1,62,63,695 since the pandemic broke out in January 2020. This is also the highest ever single-day rise in cases reported by any country so far. India first hit the grim milestone of more than 3 lakh cases on Thursday, when it logged 3.14 lakh infections in a day.
  2. A special train carrying liquid medical oxygen made its first journey on Thursday from Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam to Maharashtra. On Friday evening, it reached Nagpur with seven tankers of medical oxygen.
  3. Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked state governments to check hoarding and black marketing of oxygen and medicines. In a meeting with chief ministers of 11 states and Union Territories that are witnessing a heavy burden of coronavirus cases, Modi assured them of full support from the Centre in dealing with the pandemic.
  4. The United States defended its restrictions on the export of raw materials needed to manufacture coronavirus vaccines. The restriction is significant as it threatens to slow India’s vaccination drive.
  5. All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi, Director Dr Randeep Guleria said that the new Covid-19 variants detected in India were more infectious. He added that both doses of the Covid-19 vaccines must be taken as there was a significant chance of contracting the infection if just one dose is taken. Meanwhile, the National Centre for Disease Control said the current wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in Delhi could have been fuelled by the United Kingdom strain of the virus.
  6. Twenty-five “sickest” coronavirus patients died at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi in 24 hours amid a last-minute scramble for oxygen. Meanwhile, at least 14 coronavirus patients admitted to a hospital in Virar in Maharashtra’s Palghar district died after a fire broke out in the medical facility.
  7. The Delhi High Court instructed all hospitals and nursing facilities in the Capital to approach the nodal officer with their requests for oxygen supplies.
  8. Indian pharmaceutical company Zydus Cadila announced that it has received approval from the Drug Controller General of India for emergency use of its anti-viral drug Virafin for treating moderate Covid-19 cases.
  9. Jharkhand, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Goa joined the list of states that will provide free vaccinations against the coronavirus to people aged 18 years and above.
  10. Opposition leaders demanded a uniform vaccination rate as India is battling a terrible second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi blamed the Narendra Modi government for the alarming shortage of oxygen in the country amid a rapidly worsening coronavirus outbreak.