NDTV TOP STORIES
1. The Centre has fixed the maximum price that private hospitals can charge for Covid vaccines amid opposition allegations of profiteering. The price of Covishield has been fixed at Rs 780 a dose, Russian vaccine Sputnik V at Rs 1,145 a dose and indigenously made Covaxin, at a steep Rs 1,410 a dose. This includes taxes as well as a 150-rupee service charge for the hospitals. The Centre has asked the states not to allow private hospitals to levy more than Rs 150 as service charge. The state governments have been asked to monitor the private hospitals regularly and said strict action will be taken against any private vaccination center for charging more. 2. Shortage of vaccines is being reported from vaccination centers in Delhi and Mumbai for the 18-44 age group. 3. In rural India, healthcare workers go the extra mile to push vaccination. Vaccine hesitancy and fear is a huge challenge. 4. AIIMS Delhi Director Dr Randeep Guleria says there is no data, either from India or internationally, to show that children will be seriously infected in any next wave of COVID-19. Addressing a joint press conference on the COVID-19 situation in New Delhi, Dr Guleria says it is a piece of misinformation that subsequent waves of the COVID-19 pandemic are going to cause severe illness in children. 5. Buoyed by the change in Centre's vaccine policy, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has written to his counterparts in 12 states, seeking their support in demanding moratorium on loans by Small and Medium Enterprises. 6. At least 17 people killed and five others injured in a collision between a minibus and a JCB loader in Kanpur on Tuesday evening. 7. Top U.S. infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci urges more Americans to get vaccinated, warns how the Delta variant of Covid has spread in the UK.