1. The Indian Medical Association said on Wednesday that 730 doctors have died during the second coronavirus wave, reported ANI. The association said that Bihar reported the most number of deaths among doctors with 115 fatalities, followed by Delhi with 109 and Uttar Pradesh with 79.
  2. India recorded 62,224 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday morning, taking its overall tally to 2,96,33,105 since the pandemic broke out in January 2020. The toll rose by 2,542 to 3,79,573. The number of active cases fell below 9 lakh. India now has 8,65,432 active cases.
  3. The Indian government’s decision to double the interval between two doses of the Covishield vaccine was taken in a “transparent manner” and “based on scientific data”, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said. This came after three scientists of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation said that they did not back the Centre’s decision to increase the gap.
  4. The Union health ministry dismissed social media posts claiming that Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin contains newborn calf serum. It said such posts are “twisted and misrepresented”.
  5. Pharmaceutical company Dr Reddy’s, who is the local distribution partner of Russia’s Sputnik V, said that the commercial launch of the vaccine is in its final leg. In a statement, the company said that the soft launch of the vaccine has been extended to nine cities – Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, Visakhapatnam, Baddi, Kolhapur and Miryalaguda.
  6. Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Atishi said that Delhi has received fresh stock of coronavirus vaccines from the Centre and that beneficiaries in the 18 to 44 age group can now book their slot on the CoWIN portal for inoculation at government-run facilities.
  7. Non-governmental organisation Arappor Iyakkam in Chennai has alleged discrepancies in the state government’s figures on Covid-19 deaths in Tamil Nadu between April and May.
  8. The Odisha government extended the partial lockdown till 5 am on July 1. The borders with Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand will now be opened due to a decline in Covid-19 cases in these neighbouring states.
  9. India on Tuesday formally acknowledged that another variant of the coronavirus, called AY.1 or B.1.617.2.1, had emerged. NITI Aayog member VK Paul referred to the new variant as “Delta Plus” and said that it is a “variant of interest” but has not been classified as a “variant of concern”.
  10. Globally, the coronavirus disease has infected over 17.65 crore people and killed more than 38.19 lakh since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University.