India, in the last 24 hours ending 9 am on Thursday, recorded 48,786 cases, a slight increase from yesterday’s numbers. The country’s active cases count has dropped to 5,23,257. The country, during the same time, also witnessed 1,005 Covid-related deaths.

In other news, an expert panel of the country’s central drug authority on Wednesday recommended against granting permission to the Serum Institute of India (SII) to conduct the phase 2/3 trial of Covid-19 vaccine Covovax on children aged two to 17 years, news agency PTI reported. SII had applied to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on Monday seeking permission for conducting a trial of Covovax on 920 children, 460 each in the 12-17 and 2-11 age groups, at 10 sites.

Nine European nations are accepting Covishield vaccines for travel to other countries, sources told PTI. Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Greece, Iceland, Ireland and Spain are among the countries allowing travel by people who have taken Covishield vaccines, PTI reported quoting its sources. Switzerland is also accepting Covishield as a Schengen state, it reported.

Source: The Indian Express