348,421 fresh Covid-19 cases, 4,205 deaths reported in India in 24 hours

While several cities, including Mumbai and Delhi, reported shortage of vaccines, the health ministry said 17,52,35,991 people were vaccinated against the virus, with 24,46,674 of them being inoculated in the last 24 hours.

India reported 348,421 fresh infections of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and 4,205 deaths due to the virus on Wednesday, according to the Union health ministry dashboard. With this, the country's cumulative infections went up to 23,340,938 and the toll was pushed to 254,197.

India is reeling under the impact of a highly infectious second wave of the Covid-19 disease and the country's medical infrastructure is in tatters.(REUTERS)

Meanwhile, 193,826,42 people have recovered from the disease till date and the country has 37,040,99 active cases, the ministry data showed. This means that the Covid-19 recovery rate has increased to 82.75 per cent and the active cases comprise 16.16 per cent of the total infections.

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While several cities, including Mumbai and Delhi, reported shortage of vaccines, the health ministry said that as many as 17,52,35,991 people were vaccinated against the virus, with 24,46,674 of them being inoculated in the last 24 hours.

Chief minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday urged the Centre to allow more pharmaceutical firms to manufacture Covid-19 vaccines in order to meet the high demand. Around 125 Covid-19 vaccine administration centres of the Delhi government were shut on Tuesday after they ran out of Covaxin vaccine for beneficiaries in the 18-44 age group, according to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

In Mumbai too, reports of vaccine shortage have surfaced. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said Tuesday that it may reserve vaccines enough for two or three days of their drive to inoculate those taking their second dose.

In order to curb the spread of the virus, many states have introduced a slew of restrictions. According to a HT report, around 80 per cent of India’s population is living under partial or complete lockdown. Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have extended their ongoing lockdown till May 17, while Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Puducherry went under a two-week lockdown starting Monday.