People sit on the promenade at Marine Drive, amidst the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Mumbai, India. Reuters

Gulf Today Report

India reported 96,982 new coronavirus infections overnight, taking the overall tally of cases to 12.7 million, data from health ministry showed on Tuesday.

The country reported 446 deaths, taking the total to 165,547, data showed.

India’s caseload is the third-highest globally behind the United States and Brazil.

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Many Indian state leaders have asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to open up vaccinations to most of the country's hundreds of millions of adults, following a second surge in infections that has eclipsed the first wave.

India breached the grim milestone of 100,000 daily infections for the first time on Monday, and cases are likely to stay high again when fresh figures are released later on Tuesday.

India’s caseload is the third-highest globally behind the United States and Brazil.

The country, the world's biggest vaccine maker, this month expanded its vaccination programme to include everyone above the age of 45. So far it has vaccinated only about 1 in 25 people, compared with nearly 1 in 2 in the United Kingdom and 1 in 3 in the United States.

"If a larger number of young and working population is vaccinated, the intensity of the cases would be much lower than the treatment that they need today," Uddhav Thackeray, chief minister of India's worst affected Maharashtra state, wrote in a letter to Modi late on Monday.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and many other states have also asked for faster and wider vaccinations, with some flagging tightness in vaccine supplies even for the prioritised groups.