Highlights: DGCI's approval to Bharat Biotech's vaccine draws flak

The Drugs Controller General of India, VG Somani, said that nothing would be approved if there was even the slightest safety concern. He did, however, mention that side effects like mild fever, pain and allergy may happen to some people but rubbished talks of the vaccines causing impotency.

India's drug regulator has approved Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech's Covid-19 vaccines for restricted emergency use.

The Drugs Controller General of India said that the Covaxin coronavirus vaccine was found to have an efficacy rate of 70.42%

South Korea reported 657 new coronavirus infections, taking the country's tally to 63,244.

The ICMR said that a total of 17,48,99,783 samples have been tested so far, of which 9,58,125 were done yesterday.

85 ITC Grand Chola (Chennai) employees have tested positive for coronavirus from December 15 to January 1, as reported by ANI

India reported 18,177 new coronavirus infections, taking the country's tally to 1,03,23,965 including 2,47,220 active cases. The death toll after 217 new fatalities stands at 1,49,435. 20,923 new recoveries pushed the total number of recoveries to 99,27,310.

Japan may declare a new emergency to tackle the spread of coronavirus in the country as cases surge, said the head of the nation's pandemic response after a meeting with the governors in the capital region.

Mexico recorded 6,359 new coronavirus infections taking the country's overall caseload to 1,443,544. The death toll after 344 new fatalities stands at 126,851.

The Drugs Controller General of India will brief the media about the coronavirus vaccine at 11am.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said that the vaccination drive was based on the country's election process, planned down to the booth level. He said that over 57,000 participants across 719 districts had completed training and 96,000 vaccinators had been trained so far.