Here’s what happened on Wednesday:

  1. Kerala recorded over 21,000 coronavirus cases for the second consecutive day. With 21,427 new cases, the state’s cumulative tally since the outbreak of the pandemic in January last year rose to 37,45,457. Its toll went up to 19,049 with 179 more deaths. On Tuesday, the state had recorded 21,613 new cases.
  2. India registered 35,178 new infections on Wednesday, taking the cumulative tally to 3,22,85,857 since the pandemic broke out in January last year. The country’s toll rose to 4,32,519 as it recorded 440 more deaths in the last day.
  3. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray claimed that the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in the state was under control, the Hindustan Times reported. He added that in six districts, the number of new cases was below 10, while eight others had less than 100 infections. There were no new patients in Nandurbar district, Thackeray said.
  4. In Mumbai, there is a shortage of vaccine doses. On Thursday and Friday, inoculation centres run by the state government as well as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation will remain shut, ANI reported.
  5. Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya announced a Rs 1,300-crore financial package for northeastern states to help them tackle the pandemic, PTI reported.
  6. The World Health Organization issued an alert after detecting fake vials of the Covishield vaccine in India and Uganda, Mint reported. The Serum Institute of India has confirmed that some vaccine vials reported at the patient-level were fake, according to the WHO.
  7. The United States is expected to start rolling out booster shots of Covid-19 vaccines next month.
  8. The United Kingdom approved the coronavirus vaccine developed by pharmaceutical company Moderna for use among children aged 12-17. Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said that the vaccine was “safe and effective in this age group”.
  9. Patients with long Covid-19 syndrome continue to have higher measures of blood clotting, PTI reported citing a study from the RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences in Ireland. The condition may lead to persistent symptoms such as reduced physical fitness and fatigue, according to the study.
  10. Globally, Covid-19 has infected more than 20.85 crore people and led to over 43.81 lakh deaths since the beginning of the pandemic in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University.