# Big bash: While the government is optimistic of achieving its target of 100-crore vaccinations of at least one dose by next week, the numbers fell drastically on Dasara with only 7.72 lakh jabs till 6:30 pm on Friday. This is the third straight day of drastic fall in vaccination numbers.

Nevertheless, the government is reportedly planning a big splash with announcements on planes, ships, metros and at railway stations next week when the 100-crore vaccination target is expected to be reached.

# Sabarimala reopens: The Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala will open on Saturday but daily rituals will begin only from the next day with devotees being allowed in for five days until October 21 strictly as per booking made on the virtual queue system.

# Daily tally: India recorded 15,981 Covid-19 cases in a day, taking the infection tally to 3,40,53,573 while 166 more fatalities pushed the death toll to 4,51,980, according to the Union Health Ministry’s data on Saturday.

# Delta protection: The severe outbreak of Covid-19 in Delhi this year showed that the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 can infect previously exposed people through a different variant of the coronavirus, highlighting the challenges of reaching herd immunity against the variant, according to an international team of scientists.

# Covid-19 funds: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has alleged that the central government diverted the majority of Covid-19 funds to Gujarat, while Maharashtra was left to fight on its own with its resources.

# Mixed doses: The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said it will accept mixed-dose coronavirus vaccines from international travellers.

The CDC said last week that it would accept any vaccine authorised for use by US regulators or the World Health Organization.

# Visually: Global cases decline, but so does the pace of vaccination

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