A look at the biggest Covid-19 developments of the day:

  1. Maharashtra administered a record 10.77 lakh Covid-19 vaccines to people on Saturday, News18 reported. The state’s previous highest single-day figure, 9.64 lakh doses was registered on August 14, said Pradeep Vyas, the additional chief secretary in the state public health department.
  2. India on Saturday recorded 34,457 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking the tally to 3,23,93,286 since the pandemic broke out in January last year. The number of cases was 5.78% fewer than Friday’s count of 36,571 infections. The country’s toll rose to 4,33,964 with 375 more deaths recorded in the last 24 hours, while the number of active cases declined by 2,265 to 3,61,340.  
  3. Pharmaceutical major Zydus Cadila will supply one crore doses of its three-shot coronavirus vaccine, ZyCov-D, by October, group’s managing director Sharvil Patel said on Saturday. This came a day after India’s drug regulator granted emergency use authorisation to ZyCov-D. The price of each dose is likely to be announced in a week or two.
  4. The Tamil Nadu government has extended the lockdown in the state till September 6, with certain relaxations. From Monday, theatres can open with 50% seating, while shops will be permitted to remain open till 10 pm.  
  5. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday announced that markets in the Capital will be allowed to remain open as per their regular timings from Monday. The relaxations will apply to all shops, including the ones located in shopping complexes and malls. Further, restaurants have been permitted to remain open beyond 10 pm. 
  6. There is not enough data currently to support the need for booster shots in India, All India Institute of Medical Sciences chief  Randeep Guleria told NDTV. However, he said that more information was likely to be available by early next year. Several countries, including the United States, United Kingdom and Israel, have stated that they will give booster shots to certain high-risk groups.
  7. Delhi on Saturday reported 19 new cases of coronavirus, the lowest since April 15, 2020. The city has not recorded any deaths due to the coronavirus for two consecutive days on Friday and Saturday.
  8. Authorities in Australia arrested over 250 people who were protesting against lockdown restrictions, AP reported. Clashes broke out at some of the protests, during which seven police officers reportedly sustained injuries.
  9. The Delhi government on Friday alleged that Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal has rejected a proposal to set up an expert committee to find out the number of deaths caused in the city due to lack of medical oxygen during the second wave of coronavirus. However, soon after Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia leveled the allegation, Baijal’s office reportedly denied the claim calling it “misleading”.
  10. Globally, Covid-19 has infected more than 21.10 crore people and led to over 44.17 lakh deaths since the beginning of the pandemic in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University.