India, a country of 1.3 billion people, on Tuesday reported less than 100,000 new COVID-19 cases for the eighth consecutive day while the death toll in the last 24 hours remained under 3000.

With 2,726 deaths linked to the virus caused in the same time span, the COVID-19 toll has peaked to 377,031.

Meanwhile, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi will begin the selection process of children in the age group of 6-12 years for the clinical trials of Bharat Biotech's Covaxin on Tuesday, said Dr Sanjay Rai, professor at the Centre for Community Medicine at AIIMS Delhi, said a media report.

After the recruitment of children in the age group is done, the process for clinical trials for children between 2 to 6 years of age will be started, the report added.

The screening for clinical trials in the age group of 12 to 18 is already completed and they have been administered with a single dose of the vaccine, it said.

AIIMS, Patna has already started the paediatric trials of Covaxin on children between 12 to 18 years from June 3.

On May 12, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had granted permission to conduct the second and third phase of clinical trials of Covaxin on children in the age group of  2 to 18 years.

The decision for mass inoculation drive for children was taken after experts warned of a third wave when the disease could take a serious shape among them if there is a change in virus behaviour or epidemiology dynamics. (SAM)