Tag: COVID-19 Vaccines

Coronavirus News Feb 2 highlights: Uttarakhand to give doctors, health workers Rs 11,000 for treating COVID patients

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Coronavirus News LIVE Updates: India’s COVID-19 tally of cases crossed 1.08 crore with less than 10,000 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day, for the first time since June 2020. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has surged to 1.04 crore pushing the national recovery rate to 97.05 percent, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday.

The total infections have mounted to 1.08 crore. The death toll increased to 1,54,392 with 118 daily new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,04,34,983 pushing the national COVID-19 recovery rate to 97.00 percent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.44 percent.

The COVID-19 active cases fell for 25 days in a row. There are 1,68,235 active coronavirus infections in the country which comprises 1.56 percent of the total caseload, the data stated.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16. It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19.

According to the ICMR, 19,70,92,635 samples have been tested up to January 31 with 5,04,263 samples being tested on Sunday. Till date, the ministry has vaccinated 37,58,843 healthcare workers, with 14,509 workers being tested on Monday.

Centre rushes high level teams to Kerala and Maharashtra for supporting the States in public health interventions for COVID19 management. While the rest of the states are showing a decline in number of cases, these two states are contributing to 70 percent of the cases. The teams deputed in the states will take a stock of ground level scenario there and recommend necessary public health interventions to contain the large number of cases they are reporting.

Track all the latest updates with CNBC-TV18.com’s live blog here

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

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Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Budget 2021: Govt to provide Rs 35,000 crore for COVID-19 vaccines

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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The government will provide Rs 35,000 crore for COVID-19 vaccines in 2021-22, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced in the Union Budget 2021 speech on Monday.

“I am committed to providing further funds if required,” she said. With this, the total budget outlay on the healthcare and wellness sector is Rs 2,23,846 crores in 2021 as against 94,452 crores in 2020 — marking an increase of 137 percent.

Government has announced relief measures worth Rs 2.71 lakh crore — 13 percent of India’s GDP — till date, FM said.

The government has also announced the launch of Emergency Response and Health System Preparedness package worth more than Rs 11,000 crore. Within this, over Rs 90 crore will be used up for National Institute of Communicable Diseases and over Rs 4,000 crore for Central Procurement of Supplies & Materials. National Rural Health Mission will get some Rs 7,000 crore.

India had earlier in January approved two vaccines — Oxford’s Covishield manufactured by SII and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin — for restricted emergency use. The country launched its COVID-19 vaccination drive from January 16 in what Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called the world’s largest inoculation programme with priority to be given to nearly three crore healthcare and frontline workers.

According to the COVID-19 Vaccine Operational Guidelines, the shots will be offered first to an estimated one crore healthcare workers, and around two crore frontline workers, and then to persons above 50 years of age, followed by persons younger than 50 years of age with associated comorbidities based on evolving pandemic situation.

Stay tuned with all the live-action and updates with our Budget 2021 Live blog

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Assessing availability, decision on COVID vaccines supply to other countries ‘may take some time’: MEA

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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India on Thursday said it is still assessing production schedules and availability of the COVID-19 vaccines, and any decision on their supply to other countries “may take some time”.

This was stated by the Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava. The remarks come in the backdrop of media reports that Brazil is sending an aircraft to procure doses of the coronavirus vaccine from the Serum Institute of India (SII).

“In so far as requests from countries for vaccines from India, you would recall that Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) has already stated that India’s vaccine production and delivery capacity would be used for the benefit of all humanity in fighting this crisis,” he said in response to questions on supply of vaccines to neighbouring countries and reports that Brazil is sending a plane for procuring vaccine doses. “As you know, the vaccination process is just starting in India. It is too early to give a specific response on the supplies to other countries as we are still assessing production schedules and availability to take decisions in this regard. This may take some time,” he said at an online briefing.

India’s drugs regulator has approved Oxford COVID-19 vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute, and indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use in the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch India’s COVID-19 vaccination drive on January 16 via video conferencing.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

American Airlines readies non-mandatory COVID-19 vaccine rollout for workers

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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American Airlines plans to offer COVID-19 vaccines to its employees at medical clinics at its hub airports once they are available, with inoculation for Chicago-based employees possible as soon as next month, a director told Reuters.

“There are a lot of efforts underway to try to secure the vaccine as soon as we can,” said Jennifer Saddy, managing director of absence management, who is part of the team leading American’s vaccine efforts.

American is not requiring the vaccine for employees but is working on a plan with local health authorities and its medical partner Premise, which has filed the necessary paperwork to get access to the vaccine as soon as possible, she said.

The company is still working out details but will likely offer the vaccine to employees by appointment or on a walk-in basis.

A memo to American’s pilots said called the decision to take the vaccines “personal.”

“As such, if you elect to take the vaccine you should schedule it on your days off and so that it does not impact your ability to be in place and operate your scheduled flying given the 48-hour requirement,” American’s managing director of line operations, Chip Long, and managing director of flight operations, John Dudley, said in the memo, reviewed by Reuters.

The Federal Aviation Administration has said pilots and controllers must not fly or conduct safety-related duties for 48 hours after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.

Asked about the memo, American Airlines said it is working on plans to provide the vaccine to pilots and other employees as it becomes available in different states but does not plan to require them unless they are mandated by certain countries for entry.

Inoculation against the disease caused by the coronavirus is considered key to safely reopening large parts of the U.S. economy.

Air travel has been particularly hit hard by the pandemic, and strict rules putting health-care workers first in line has slowed the rollout in the United States. States are now being urged to vaccinate anyone over 65 as well.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

SpiceJet inks MoU with Brussels Airport for transportation of COVID vaccines

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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SpiceJet has signed an agreement with Belgium’s Brussels Airport for providing seamless transportation of COVID-19 vaccines, according to an official statement issued on Tuesday. As a part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), Brussels Airport would provide assistance to SpiceJet with regards to slots, networking contracts etc. for speedy delivery of vaccines, it noted.

”The airline’s cargo arm, SpiceXpress, envisions to provide rapid and secure transportation of COVID-19 vaccine from and to Europe and beyond with proper temperature-controlled mechanism under the MoU,” the SpiceJet’s statement said. As part of this association, Brussels Airport will be SpiceJet’s first flight point for Europe, it mentioned.

As strategic partners, both SpiceJet and Brussels Airport Company NV will jointly work with the government, pharma companies and forwarders to ensure a reliable ecosystem for vaccine delivery in a temperature-controlled environment, it said.

India started its vaccine movement from Tuesday morning when SpiceJet flight SG8937 flight transported the first consignment of COVID-19 vaccine from Pune to Delhi.

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said four airlines will operate nine flights to transport 56.5 lakh doses of COVID-19 vaccine from Pune to 13 cities across the country on Tuesday.

Click here: For the latest news and updates on COVID-19

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Maha could get COVID-19 vaccines next week; will take 2 days to vaccinate healthcare workers in Gujarat

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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India is conducting dry runs for vaccinating citizens in 736 districts across 33 states and union territories on January 8 and Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan oversaw mock drills at Chennai’s Rajiv Gandhi General Hospital. While interacting with the media, Vardhan said that that inoculation – vaccination – of citizens will start soon with healthcare professionals and followed by frontline workers being the first to be administered the vaccine.

In conversation with CNBC-TV18, Principal Health Secretary of Gujarat Jayanti Ravi, discussed the preparedness in her state for the vaccination drive.

She said, “Gujarat is among the four states to start the dry run. We carried out dry run, again the idea was to build the muscles of the team and ensure that the SOPs are been followed and also figure out if there are any problems, any concerns which we could also use to plough back into the way we are dealing with it and also communicate it back to Delhi so we covered districts and corporations, we are going down to tehsils and talukas.”

Speaking about healthcare workers, she said, “We registered as many as 4.33 lakh healthcare workers so all of these would be part of the first tranche of vaccination when the actual sessions begin. Once the process begins it would take as many as two full days for us to complete this, entire group of about 4.33 lakh healthcare workers.”

Meanwhile, Suresh Kakani, Additional Municipal Commissioner of Western Suburbs at Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation discussed how local bodies are ensuring there are no hiccups during the vaccination drive.

Kakani said, “For vaccination we have done various strategies like for storage, initially we targeted 2 lakh vaccines, but now our target is 10 lakh vaccine. As on date we can store 10 lakh vaccine in different temperature zones. After 2-3 days’ time our biggest facility which can accommodate around 90 lakh vaccines that is also getting ready.”

He added, “As per indications given to us only one vaccine will be provided either Covaxin or Covishield. As of now there is no indication when the vaccine will start flowing into the state of Maharashtra, but we are presuming it would be any moment from next week.”

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Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Vaccines might not work against S. African variant, says UK Minister

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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British Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said on Friday there were concerns that COVID-19 vaccines might not work properly against the highly transmissible variant of the coronavirus discovered in South Africa.

The world’s leading COVID-19 vaccine makers are rushing to see if their shots work against new mutations of the novel coronavirus found in South Africa and the United Kingdom.

Pfizer Inc and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine appeared to work against a key mutation in the highly transmissible new variants of the coronavirus discovered in the UK and South Africa, according to a laboratory study conducted by the US drugmaker.

“The South African variant is worrying the experts because it may be that the vaccine doesn’t respond in the same way or doesn’t work in quite the same way,” Shapps told LBC radio. “This South African variant – this is a huge concern for the scientists.”

The not-yet peer-reviewed study by Pfizer and scientists from the University of Texas Medical Branch indicated the vaccine was effective in neutralizing virus with the so-called N501Y mutation of the spike protein.

The mutation could be responsible for greater transmissibility. There had been concern it could also make the virus escape antibody neutralization elicited by the vaccine, said Phil Dormitzer, one of Pfizer’s top viral vaccine scientists.

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Ready to introduce COVID-19 vaccine within 10 days of emergency use authorisation approvals: Health ministry

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Tuesday said that based on dry-run feedback, the health ministry is ready to roll out COVID-19 vaccine within ten days from date of emergency use authorisation.

He added that the final decision will be taken by the Central government.

Addressing a press conference, Bhushan also said that the active cases of coronavirus in the country are continuously declining.

“The active cases in the country are less than 2.5 lakhs and continue to decline. The positivity rate stood at 1.97 percent,” he said.

He further clarified that the Union government has not banned the export of any COVID-19 vaccine that has been granted restricted emergency use approval by the drug regulator,

Speaking on the new variant of coronavirus, he said that India has not seen emergence of any untoward clusters in the country as of now which is reassuring.

He also said that healthcare workers and frontline workers need not register themselves as their database has been populated on to the Co-WIN vaccine delivery management system in a bulk manner.

Also read:  Serum Institute, Bharat Biotech pledge to work jointly for smooth roll out of COVID-19 vaccines

On Sunday, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) approved Oxford COVID-19 vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute, and indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use in the country, paving the way for a massive inoculation drive.

The DCGI granted approval on the basis of recommendations by a COVID-19 Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Serum Institute, Bharat Biotech pledge to work jointly for smooth roll out of COVID-19 vaccines

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech on Tuesday jointly pledged for a smooth roll out of COVID-19 vaccines.

In a joint statement, Bharat Biotech’s CM Krishna Ell and Serum Institute of India’s CEO Adar Poonawalla said that it was their combined intent to develop, manufacture and supply the COVID-19 vaccines for India and globally.

“Now that two COVID-19 vaccines have been issued EUA (emergency use authorization) in India, the focus is on manufacturing, supply and distribution, such that populations that need it the most receive high quality, safe and efficacious vaccines. Both our Companies are fully engaged in this activity and consider it our duty to the nation and the world at large to ensure a smooth rollout of vaccines. Each of our Companies continue their COVID-19 vaccines development activities as planned,” the statement read.

Poonawalla tweeted that they are united in the fight against coronavirus pandemic.

This should clarify any miscommunication. We are all united in the fight against this pandemic. https://t.co/oeII0YOXEH

— Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) January 5, 2021

The joint statement came a day after Bharat Biotech slammed Adar Poonawalla for his ‘water’ comment about some COVID-19 vaccines,

On Sunday, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) approved Oxford COVID-19 vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute, and indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use in the country, paving the way for a massive inoculation drive.

The DCGI granted approval on the basis of recommendations by a COVID-19 Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).

Elon Musk forms several ‘X Holdings’ companies to fund potential Twitter buyout

3 Mins Read

Thursday’s filing dispelled some doubts, though Musk still has work to do. He and his advisers will spend the coming days vetting potential investors for the equity portion of his offer, according to people familiar with the matter

KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow