Coronavirus live updates: BJP slams Kerala government's free Covid vaccine plan

With 30,005 new infections, India's total cases have risen to 98,26,775. 442 new deaths have taken the toll to 1,42,628. Total active cases now stand at 3,59,819; Total discharged cases at 93,24,328 with 33,494 new recoveries in the last 24 hours.

The US Food and Drug Administration said it authorized the use of Pfizer Inc's Covid-19 vaccine on Friday, with the first inoculations expected within days, marking a turning point in the United States where the pandemic has killed more than 295,000 people. The US Food and Drug Administration granted an emergency use authorization for the vaccine, developed with German partner BioNTech, which was shown to be 95% effective in preventing the disease in a late-stage trial. It was shown to be 95% effective in preventing the disease in a late-stage trial. The FDA said the vaccine can be given to people aged 16 and older. Healthcare workers and elderly people in long-term care facilities are expected to be the main recipients of a first round of 2.9 million doses.

President Donald Trump said late on Friday after the US Food and Drug Administration approved Pfizer Inc's Covid-19 vaccine that the first shot would be administered in the United States in less than 24 hours.

With 30,002 fresh cases on Friday, India’s daily caseload of Covid-19 once again breached the 30,000 mark, marginally higher than the 29,497 cases reported on Thursday, when daily new infections fell below 30,000 only for the third time since July 13.

Delhi recorded 2,385 new Covid-19 cases on Friday with over 71,000 tests being conducted, even as the positivity rate stood at 3.3%. The positivity rate dipped to 4.9%, 4.7%, 4.2%, 3.6% and 3.1%, respectively from December 3 to 7. However, on December 8, it had risen again to 4.2%, falling again to 3.4% on December 9 and 2.4% on December 10.

Each person who gets the vaccine will be mandatorily kept under observation for 30 minutes to check for AEFI and those developing severe aftereffects will be shifted to hospital identified by state. Dr Rajani N, one of the immunisation officers who attended the two-day workshop organised by the ministry, said: “The decision to have three rooms for vaccination is keeping in mind the need for social distancing. While the vaccination room will see only one person enter at each time, the waiting and observation room will have seating for multiple people.”

According to the draft SOP shared with the states on Thursday, each vaccination site will have five vaccination officers, including a guard, and three rooms, one each for waiting, vaccination and observation.

Switzerland and Liechtenstein on Friday reported 5,136 new Covid-19 cases over the previous day, bringing their combined tally to 373,831, according to data published by the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health.

Moscow has registered 76 deaths of patients infected with Covid-19 over the past 24 hours, bringing the Russian capital's death toll to 9,798, the city's coronavirus response centre said in a statement on Friday.