Here are the updates from Monday:

  1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Centre will take over the states’ quota procurement of coronavirus vaccines. The new policy, which will be put in place over the next two weeks, essentially means that the Centre will now procure 75% of the vaccines manufactured and provide them to states to inoculate all adults. Private hospitals will continue to procure 25% of the jabs.
  2. India registered 1,00,636 new Covid-19 cases, pushing the infection tally in the country to 2,89,09,975 since the pandemic broke out in January last year. This is the lowest number of new cases in 61 days, reports said. With 2,427 deaths, the toll climbed to 3,49,186.
  3. The health ministry said that students and professionals going abroad for their education and jobs, and those part of the country’s Tokyo Olympics contingent will have to get their vaccination certificates linked to passports. The ministry also relaxed the gap for the second dose of Covishield to 28 days for these beneficiaries.
  4. A study on vaccinations done on healthcare workers in India has shown that two doses of the Covishield vaccine have produced more antibodies than those of the Covaxin shot. The study is yet to be peer reviewed but was shared on medRxiv, an online portal for unpublished reports on medical sciences.
  5. The Punjab and Uttarakhand governments extended Covid-19 curbs in the states till June 15, but with certain relaxations. Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh government extended the statewide curfew till June 20.
  6. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday announced that citizens aged 45 and above can get vaccinated against coronavirus at their designated polling stations in the city.
  7. Delhi reported 231 new cases of coronavirus in 24 hours – the lowest figure since March 3. Among states with high caseloads, Maharashtra reported 10,219 cases, while Karnataka logged 11,958 cases
  8. The Indian Medical Association requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to personally intervene to curb incidents of assault on doctors and health workers amid the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
  9. The Spanish government opened its borders for all travelers vaccinated against Covid-19.
  10. The coronavirus disease has now infected over 17.37 crore people and killed over 37.30 lakh in the world since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University.