Omicron variant: 9 more Omicron cases detected, 4 each in Maharashtra, Kerala; 1st case reported in Tamil Nadu

Russia on Tuesday admitted that its homegrown Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine had not yet been approved by the World Health Organization because Russian authorities had not provided enough data. In August last year, Sputnik V became the world's first approved coronavirus vaccine, when Russian authorities gave it the green light for domestic use ahead of large-scale clinical trials.

The Centre has told the Delhi High Court that experts are deliberating on the possible need and justification for booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines and currently there are no guidelines on it. The Centre's stand before the high court assumes significance as the issue of whether to administer booster dose of Covid-19 vaccines has cropped up amid the new Omicron variant of coronavirus.

The US drugmaker last month said the oral medicine was around 89% effective in preventing hospitalizations or deaths when compared to placebo based on interim results in around 1,200 people. The data disclosed on Tuesday includes an additional 1,000 people.

South Korea on Tuesday marked its deadliest day of the pandemic as an unrelenting, delta-driven spread stretched thin hospitals and left people dying while waiting for beds. Health experts warn that the country's medical system is quickly approaching its limits and that fatalities could worsen if the government continues to be slow and hesitant in tightening social distancing. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said 94 virus patients died in the past 24 hours while a record 906 were in serious or critical condition.

The current vaccine production capacity of Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, is approximately 250-275 million doses per month while it is about 50-60 million doses per month for Bharat Biotech's Covaxin, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday. Both companies have achieved close to 90 per cent of present production capacity, Minister of State for Health Bharati Pravin Pawar said in a written reply.

Women accounted for 48.7 per cent of the beneficiaries who received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine in the country till December 8, the government informed Parliament on Tuesday. In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha on whether the number of women getting vaccinated against the coronavirus in the country was low due to a lack of awareness, minister of state for health Bharati Pravin Pawar said at the beginning of the nationwide Covid inoculation programme, pregnancy and lactation were contraindications for vaccination.

No one has died from the Omicron coronavirus variant in a study of Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine in South Africa, one of the co-lead investigators of the study said on Tuesday.

The former head of Britain's vaccine task force said on Tuesday that the vaccines against Covid-19 would need to become cheaper to administer - whether with patches, pills or sprays - to ensure countries do not have to spend so much.

Covid-19 certification or 'vaccine passports' led to increased immunisation 20 days before and 40 days after introduction in countries with lower-than-average vaccination coverage, according to a modelling study published in The Lancet Public Health journal. Covid-19 certification requires people to have proof of complete vaccination, negative test, or disease recovery certificate, to access public venues and events.