New Delhi, Dec 6 : With 36,011 new Covid infections and 482 deaths in the past 24 hours, India's overall tally stood at 96,44,222, while the toll touched 1,40,182, the Union Health Ministry said on Sunday. Currently, there are 4,03,248 active cases, whereas 91,00,792 patients have been discharged so far. The recovery rate stands at 94.28 per cent, while the fatality rate is at 1.45 per cent. Maharashtra continued to be the worst-hit state with 18,47,509 cases till date. Over 78 per cent of the daily new cases are contributed by 10 States and UT, i.e. Maharashtra, Delhi, West Bengal, Haryana, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. Experts believe that a Covid-19 vaccine will be ready in the next few weeks about which Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a mention during the Friday an all-party meeting. They added that the vaccination programme would begin as soon as scientists give a nod. The overall number of global coronavirus cases has crossed the 66 million-mark, while the deaths have surged to more than 1.52 million, according to Johns Hopkins University. In its latest update on Sunday, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and death toll stood at 6,64,60,498 and 15,27,972, respectively. The US is the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 1,45,75,623 and 2,81,134, respectively, according to the CSSE. India comes in second place in terms of cases. /IANS