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India's caseload of Covid-19 positive cases has hiked to 3,13,32,159 with 39,097 new infections being reported in a day, while the recoveries have crossed 3.05 crores, the death count stands at 4,20,016 with 546 new fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated at 8 am on Saturday.

On Friday, Bharat Biotech stated, "it has scrapped agreements with two Brazilian companies amid controversy over a $324 million deal between the South American country and Bharat Biotech for the import of 20 million doses of the made-in-India Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin."

As reported by NDTV, AIIMS chief Dr Randeep Guleria said, "India is likely to start vaccinating children by September this morning as he underlined that it will be an important move to break the chain of transmission." "I think Zydus has already done the trials and they're waiting for the emergency authorisation. The Bharat Biotech's Covaxin trials should be over by August or September, and by that time we should get an approval. Pfizer vaccine has been already approved by the FDA (US regulator - Food and Drug Administration). Hopefully, by September, we should start vaccinating children, and that will be a big boost as far as breaking the chain of transmission is concerned," Dr Guleria added. As per the study published by The Lancet, one of the world's oldest medical journals, underlined that "living with 11-17 year olds increases the risk of infection by 18-30 per cent."

Dr Guleria said, "It's an important issue. Vulnerable people - the elderly or those having illnesses - are at an increased risk of getting the infection (in such cases). That's one of the reasons why people are worried about children going to schools... they may get a mild infection but they may pass it to their grandparents. We need more data but this is something that has been shown even with influenza." 

"India can hope to reopen its schools fully by the end of this year as children get vaccinated", the AIIMS chief further said. "I personally feel, in a graded manner, physical classes should start. A lot of children who don't have access to online classes are suffering. By October, November or end of the year, when children start getting vaccinated, we should be in a position that schools open fully," he added.