Tag: World Health Organisation (WHO)

World Contraception Day: History and significance

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

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Many countries around the world mark September 26 as World Contraception Day. The day is aimed at raising awareness about the importance of contraception, how access to contraception is important, and why being able to use contraception is part of an individual’s reproductive rights.

History

World Contraception Day was first observed in 2007 on September 26. The day was marked by several international family planning organisations like the Asian Pacific Council on Contraception, Centro Latinoamericano Salud y Mujer, European Society of Contraception and Reproductive Health, German Foundation for World Population, International Federation of Paediatric and Adolescent Gynaecology, International Planned Parenthood Federation, Marie Stopes International, Population Services International, The Population Council, the USAID, and Women Deliver.

The organisations came together to mark the day in order to raise awareness about contraception, and reproductive rights, and to empower women and men to choose their pregnancies.

Significance 

Over 270 million women in the world are unable to meet their needs for family planning or contraceptives due to various reasons. More than 200 million women who wish to avoid pregnancy are unable to do so because they don’t have any access to modern contraception, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) data.

ALSO READ: World Coconut Day: History, significance and uses of the versatile fruit

Avoiding pregnancy is especially important for adolescent girls and when births are less than two years apart from each other, as these pregnancies can be extremely hazardous to both mother and child.

Preventing unwanted pregnancies is also important as unintended pregnancies and HIV are two of the greatest threats to the sexual and reproductive health and freedom of women. With unwanted pregnancies more common in low-income individuals, additional financial responsibilities of children can further depress someone into poverty and lead to cycles of high fertility, continuing a vicious cycle.

While contraceptive use among women of reproductive age stands at 76.8 percent in 2020, the uptake has been slow globally due to a lack of further options, lack of awareness and lack of choices for low-income couples.

The day also highlights the growing need for men to take steps on their own to ensure that unwanted pregnancies are minimised. Men are equally responsible for ensuring against unwanted and unsafe pregnancies as their female sexual partners. While options for men are limited to vasectomy and male condoms, being aware of other contraceptive methods that rely on fertility awareness, and using available methods consistently and correctly is important. Clamouring for other more easily available and effective methods of contraception for men is also important, as research and development into male contraceptives face a lack of funding, interest and trial volunteers.

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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

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World Suicide Prevention Day: History, significance and theme

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

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World Suicide Prevention Day is an awareness day that is observed each year on September 10. The day is marked to raise awareness about suicide prevention and attempts. The day has been celebrated annually since 2003. The day was established with hopes of destigmatising discussions about suicide, helping prevent more suicides, and raising awareness about the issues of suicide within governments, corporations and communities.

History

The day was established through the combined efforts of the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The day is part of the WHO’s 1999 initiative for global suicide prevention. Since 2011, over 40 countries have organised events around the day. The WHO, IASP and World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) host events on the day to raise awareness about the social stigmas that can lead to suicide and suicidal behaviours that can be spotted early on to prevent suicide.

Also Read | Housewives more than half of over 45,000 female suicides, says NCRB

Significance 

The WHO estimates that over 700,000 individuals take their lives each year, with the number of suicide attempts being 20 times higher. The number of individuals who have suicidal thoughts or have suffered from suicidal tendencies is even higher. Suicide is now one of the leading causes of death especially among teenagers.

With suicide rates only increasing, even as reporting in many countries remains poor, there is an urgent need for national suicide prevention policies and infrastructure to be in place. However, in many countries, the support system for urgent mental health crises remains in tatters and countless lives are lost each day for a lack of simple yet cheap intervention strategies.

India alone saw 1,64,033 deaths by suicide in 2021, according to data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). However, India has yet to formulate a national suicide prevention strategy and the act of attempting and committing suicide is still under considerable social stigma.

Also Read | Daily wage earners and self-employed among top categories of suicide, says NCRB

Theme

Every year the IASP and the WHO announce a theme around which World Suicide Prevention Day events are organised. The theme between 2021 and 2023 is “Creating Hope Through Action”, which aims to discuss, inform, and raise awareness for alternatives to suicide.

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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

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Biological E Ltd to get mRNA technology from WHO to produce COVID-19 vaccines

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

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Hyderabad-based vaccine maker Biological E. Limited on Monday said the company was selected as a recipient of mRNA technology to produce COVID-19 vaccines from the World Health Organization (WHO).

BE Limited said in a statement that the WHO’s Advisory Committee on Vaccine Product Development (ACPDV) selected the firm after examining a number of proposals from India, as a recipient of mRNA (ribonucleic acid) technology from the global health body’s technology transfer hub.

Mahima Datla, Managing Director, BE Ltd said: “BE has been investing in mRNA technologies since last year. This new technology will definitely strengthen our resolve to develop and manufacture more vaccines in the future. This partnership with WHO will enhance our ability to develop next generation mRNA vaccines that could be more suitable globally and expand the reach of vaccines availability worldwide.”

Also Read: No impact of WHO action on Covaxin, have not supplied to any UN agency: Bharat Biotech

WHO and their partners will work with the Indian government and Biological E to develop a roadmap and put in place necessary training and support for the vaccine maker to start producing mRNA vaccines as soon as possible. Primarily set up to address the COVID-19 emergency, the WHO mRNA technology transfer hub has the potential to expand manufacturing capacity for other products as well, including treatments, and target other priorities.

mRNA vaccines use a messenger RNA, created in a laboratory, to teach the human cells how to produce a protein that in turn initiates an immune response inside the body against a particular disease. The immune response will fight the actual virus as it gets into the body. At present, India has no COVID-19 vaccine made on mRNA platform.

Last month, the Centre had given approval for Biological E’s Corbevax to be administered to the 12-14 years age group across the country.

Also Read: Sweden to give 4th COVID-19 shot to people over 65

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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

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Temporarily slowing down production of Covaxin: Bharat Biotech

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

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Bharat Biotech on Friday said it is temporarily slowing down production of its COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin across its manufacturing units for facility optimisation as it has already completed its supply obligations to procurement agencies and foresees decrease in demand. The company further said after the recent WHO post Emergency Use Listing (EUL) inspection, it is working on further improvements and upgrades to ensure that the production of Covaxin continues to meet ever increasing global regulatory requirements.

“For the coming period, the company will focus on pending facility maintenance, process, and facility optimisation activities,” Bharat Biotech said in a statement As all the existing facilities were repurposed for the manufacture of Covaxin, with continuous production during the past year to meet the public health emergency of COVID-19, these upgrades were due, the company added. “Certain highly sophisticated equipment which were required to enhance the process stringency were unavailable during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has to be stressed that the quality of Covaxin was never compromised at any point in time,” it said.

#COVAXIN #bharatbiotech pic.twitter.com/EsmQOnsfX4

— BharatBiotech (@BharatBiotech) April 1, 2022

Bharat Biotech further said during the recent WHO post Emergency Use Listing inspection, it agreed with the World Health Organization (WHO) team on the scope of the planned improvement activities and indicated that they will be executed as soon as practical. “The company was also pleased to learn from the WHO, that the necessary optimisation work ‘does not indicate a change in the risk-benefit ratio (for Covaxin) and the data, available to WHO, indicates the vaccine is effective and no safety concern exists’,” it added.

The WHO has further stated the vaccine is currently under its Emergency Use Listing (EUL), it added. This risk assessment by the WHO is based on the supply of hundreds of millions of doses of Covaxin globally, during which the product has demonstrated an excellent safety and efficacy profile in detailed and thorough post marketing surveillance activities, the company asserted.

More than 1 million doses of Covaxin were introduced under clinical trial mode, where safety of subjects was actively documented. Finally, Covaxin was extensively evaluated in around 30,000 subjects in more than 10 controlled clinical trials, resulting in more than 15 publications. “Based on this wide body of data as well as a wealth of empirical evidence from India and globally, this is a strong justification for the WHO conclusions on Covaxin safety and efficacy,” it added.

Also read: ICMR study has shown rise in antibodies post Covaxin booster dose: MoS Health tells Rajya Sabha

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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

COVID-19 vaccination: Frequent booster shots a bad idea, warn experts

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

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The World Health Organization (WHO) has cautioned that repeating booster shots of the initial COVID-19 vaccines is not a feasible strategy against new variants. It also said more than half of Europe’s population will be infected with the Omicron variant in the coming six to eight weeks.

European Union (EU) regulators also felt that repeated COVID-19 booster shots could damage the immune system and may not be viable.

Also read: Covaxin booster can neutralize Omicron and Delta variants of COVID-19: Bharat Biotech

According to the European Medicines Agency (EMA), repeating booster doses every four months could eventually weaken the immune system and exhaust people.

Instead, countries should allow more time between booster programmes and tie them to the onset of the cold season in each hemisphere, as recommended by influenza vaccination strategies, the agency said.

Also read: Booster dose gives high levels of protection from Omicron in older adults: UK study

Israel became the first country to start giving people over 60 a second booster shot, or fourth shot, earlier this month. The UK has said booster shots offer good protection and that there is no need for a second booster shot at this time, but that data will be examined as it becomes available.

The recommendation comes as some countries consider offering people second booster shots in an effort to provide more protection against the Omicron variant.

Also read: COVID vaccine immunity lasts 8-9 months: Study

According to the EMA, oral and intravenous drugs such as Remdesivir and Paxlovid maintain their effectiveness against Omicron.

The agency has also informed that a new shot for a distinctive variant will be approved in April as this procedure takes two to four months.

Some of the world’s largest vaccine manufacturers have said that they are considering developing vaccines that target new variants.

Boosters can be done once, perhaps twice, but it is not something that should be repeated frequently, Marco Cavaleri, the EMA’s Head of Biological Health Threats and Vaccines Strategy, said during a press conference on January 11.

He also said that we need to consider how we can move from the existing pandemic to a more endemic situation.

Also read: Health experts on dealing with the spike in COVID cases

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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

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Omicron detected in 89 countries, cases doubling fast: WHO

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

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The Omicron variant of the coronavirus has been detected in 89 countries and is spreading rapidly even in places with high levels of population immunity, the World Health Organisation said today.

The number of COVID-19 cases involving Omicron is doubling every 1.5 to 3 days in countries where there is community transmission of the variant and not just people who were infected abroad, WHO said.

Omicron’s substantial growth advantage over the delta variant means it is likely to soon overtake delta as the dominant variant in those countries, the UN health agency said.

It remains unclear if the rapid growth of omicron cases is because the variant evades existing immunity, is inherently more transmissible than previous variants, or a combination of both, WHO said.

Other major questions about Omicron remain unanswered, including how effective each of the existing COVID-19 vaccines are against it. Conclusive data also does not exist yet on how ill omicron makes COVID-19 patients, the health agency said.

WHO first labeled omicron a variant of concern on November 26.

Also read: COVID-19 reinfection risk five times higher with Omicron than Delta: UK study

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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

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Omicron: India’s tally rises to 126; Maha, Kerala, Karnataka report more cases

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

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India’s Omicron COVID-19 count rose to 126 today after Karnataka and Kerala reported six and four cases respectively, while three more persons in Maharashtra also tested positive for the variant. According to central and state officials, Omicron cases have been detected in 11 states and union territories — Maharashtra (43), Delhi (22), Rajasthan (17) and Karnataka (14), Telangana (8), Gujarat (7), Kerala (11), Andhra Pradesh (1), Chandigarh (1), Tamil Nadu (1) and West Bengal (1).

Of the six new cases in Karnataka, one is a passenger from the UK, while five others are from COVID-19 clusters in two educational institutions in Dakshina Kannada district, and their travel history or contact with the international travellers is being ascertained, officials said. “Two cluster outbreaks of COVID have been reported from two educational institutions in Dakshina Kannada today: Cluster 1: 14 cases (of which 4 are Omicron). Cluster 2: 19 cases (1 is Omicron). A traveller from UK has also tested positive for Omicron,” Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar said in a tweet.

Also read: Omicron cases doubling in 1.5 to 3 days in areas with local spread: WHO

In Kerala, two cases of the new variant of the coronavirus were detected from Thiruvananthapuram in patients aged 17 and 44. One case was detected in Malappuram in a person aged 37 and another was a 49-year-old patient from Thrissur district. “The 17-year-old patient in Thiruvananthapuram came from the UK while the 44-year-old reached the state from Tunisia in a chartered flight. The patient in Malappuram came from Tanzania while the Thrissur native came from Kenya,” Health Minister Veena George said in a release. A couple and their 13-year-old daughter have tested positive for the Omicron variant after returning to Satara in western Maharashtra from Uganda, officials said. Their other daughter, who is five years old, tested positive for COVID-19 but not for the variant.

All four returned to Phaltan in Satara district from the African country on December 9, state health department officials said. “The husband (35), wife (33) and their elder daughter (13) tested positive for COVID-19 while the report of the younger child was inconclusive, so the samples of all four were sent to the National Institute of Virology for genome sequencing,” said Civil Surgeon Dr Subhash Chavan.

Also read: View | Omicron fears have just gotten worse; what lies ahead?

The Centre has warned it is likely that the spread of the new variant will outpace the Delta variant where there is community transmission. It has advised people to avoid non-essential travel and mass gatherings and keep New Year celebrations at low intensity.

While the country’s first two cases of the Omicron variant were detected in Karnataka on December 2, this heavily mutated version of the coronavirus was first reported in South Africa on November 24. The national capital on Saturday recorded 86 fresh COVID-19 cases in a day, the highest in over five months.

On July 8, Delhi had reported 93 coronavirus cases. The rise in cases is being recorded amid the Omicron scare in Delhi as the total number of patients infected with the latest variant of coronavirus jumped by 12 on Friday to reach 22.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday assured the people that his government is ready to tackle the Omicron variant of COVID and advised people not to panic. Other states too said they were making preparations to deal with a possible rise in Omicron cases. Odisha has arranged for an adequate number of hospital beds, medical oxygen and medicines to deal with any emergency, state Public Health Director Niranjan Mishra said. “No one can rule out the possibility of a third wave of COVID-19 with increasing Omicron cases. We are well prepared to tackle the situation,” the official said. Odisha has not recorded any case of the new coronavirus variant so far but neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal reported such infections.

Also read: COVID-19 reinfection risk five times higher with Omicron than Delta: UK study

The World Health Organization on Saturday stressed on urgent scale-up of public health and social measures to curtail the further spread of the Omicron variant.

Countries can and must prevent the spread of Omicron with proven health and social measures, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia Region, Poonam Khetrapal Singh, said. “Our focus must continue to be to protect the least protected and those at high risk,” she said in a statement.

The overall threat posed by Omicron largely depends on three key questions — its transmissibility; how well the vaccines and prior SARS-CoV-2 infection protect against it, and how virulent the variant is as compared to other variants. “From what we know so far, Omicron appears to spread faster than the Delta variant which has been attributed to the surge in cases across the world in the last several months,” Singh said.

Emerging data from South Africa suggests an increased risk of reinfection with Omicron, she said, adding that there is still limited data on the clinical severity associated with Omicron. Further information is needed to fully understand the clinical picture of those infected with Omicron, she said. Healthcare capacity including ICU beds, oxygen availability, adequate health care staff and surge capacity need to be reviewed and strengthened at all levels, she stressed.

Also read: Omicron: Man who got three COVID-19 shots tests positive for variant

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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

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View | Omicron fears have just gotten worse; what lies ahead?

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

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The number of Omicron cases in the country crossed the 100 mark on Friday, triggering fresh fears of a third wave.  According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Omicron cases have been reported from 11 states and Union territories so far.

Maharashtra, with 32 cases, has added the most to the national tally, data from the ministry showed. Delhi, with 22 cases, had the second highest number of cases.

The government also issued advisories to avoid unnecessary travel and crowded spaces. Ever since Omicron became a ‘variant of concern’, guidelines were issued for states to take precautionary measures. On a daily basis, trajectory across the world, along with the emerging evidence, is being analysed to identify actions to be taken on priority.

Global threat

The number of daily Omicron cases around the world is increasing rapidly, particularly in the UK, Denmark, Norway, and South Africa. The countries with a surge in Covid cases are also reporting a high incidence of the Omicron variant.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) had recently warned that the Omicron variant spreads at a rate not seen with any other variant. 

“Currently, 77 countries have reported cases of Omicron, but the reality is that the variant is probably in most countries, although it has not yet been detected,” said the Director-General of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, at a press conference.

The variant’s global spread suggests it could have a major impact on the COVID-19 pandemic, and the time to contain it is now, before more Omicron patients are hospitalised, Ghebreyesus said.

“We should not dismiss Omicron as mild. Even if Omicron does cause severe disease, the number of cases could once again overwhelm health systems. Based on current limited evidence, Omicron appears to be spreading at a faster rate not seen with any other previous variant. Emerging data from  South Africa suggests increased risks of infection with Omicron,” says Poonam Khetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia.

Vaccination vibrancy

The government needs to make a quick reassessment of its strategies and speed up the vaccination programme.   It is however not very clear whether the vaccine is effective against the variant or not.

A new study by Columbia University says the Omicron variant is “markedly resistant” to vaccines, and boosters might not do much to help, spelling bad news for the country as Omicron spreads and COVID-19 cases rise nationally.

“A striking feature of this variant is the large number of spike mutations that pose a threat to the efficacy of current COVID-19 vaccines and antibody therapies,” said to the study. 

The WHO on Friday issued an emergency use listing to Covovax, Serum Institute of India’s version of Novavax Inc’s Covid-19 vaccine. The agency said that Novovax’s own vaccine is currently under assessment by the European Medicines Agency, and will complete its own assessment of this vaccine once the EMA has issued its recommendation.

India currently has the highest vaccination rate in the world. The average daily doses administered in the country is 74.31 lakh, which is 4.8 times more than that in the United States and 12.5 times more than in the United Kingdom

The country has so far administered 82.82 crore first doses and 53.72 crore second doses. More than 136 crore doses have been administered in the country, which is 2.8 times the total doses administered in the USA (48.6 crore)

The epicentre

On November 26, the WHO designated B.1.1.529 a variant of concern (VOC) because of preliminary evidence of a detrimental change in COVID-19 epidemiology. As a variant of concern, it was named Omicron. 

In early November, scientists in South Africa identified the variant in a patient with COVID-19 from Botswana, a country that borders South Africa. Subsequently, the variant was detected in South Africa

According to WHO, Omicron has a large number of mutations, including more than 30 genetic mutations of the spike protein. The spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 is targeted by some of the currently approved COVID-19 vaccines; mutations in the spike protein therefore need to be closely monitored. 

Some mutations have previously been associated with increasing transmissibility and making it easier for the virus to bind and attach to cells.

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

Got both doses of Covaxin? You can now travel to these countries; conditions apply

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

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A technical committee of the World Health Organisation (WHO) will meet on Wednesday to consider granting made-in-India COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin emergency use authorisation.

The advisory group, an independent panel, provides recommendations to WHO on vaccines that can be listed for emergency use. On October 26, the committee had sought additional clarifications from Covaxin manufacturer Bharat Biotech to carry out the risk-benefit assessment of the vaccine for global use.

Till now, the WHO has approved six vaccines for global use. These are AstraZeneca’s Covishield, Pfizer/BioNTech’s Comirnaty, Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine Janssen, Sinopharm’s BBIBP-CorV, Sinovac’s CoronaVac and Moderna’s mRNA-1273.

Even though Covaxin has not received WHO’s approval so far, several countries have recognised the vaccine. Thus, People who have taken both doses of Covaxin are can travel to these countries:

Australia: Australia recognised the Indian vaccine for travel to the country. A media release from the Australian government said Covaxin and Sinopharm’s BBIBP-CorV would be ‘recognised’ as a traveller’s vaccination status. “This recognition is for travellers aged 12 and over who have been vaccinated with Covaxin and those 18 to 60 who have been vaccinated with BBIBP-CorV,” the release said.

Mauritius: The Mauritius government allows Indians fully vaccinated with Covaxin to travel to the island nation, 14 days after receiving the second dose. However, travellers will have to get a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR test result 3-7 days before travelling from India.

Oman: Oman allows Indians who have received both doses of Covaxin to travel to the country after 14 days of receiving the second shot. The approval of Covaxin means Indians who have taken the vaccine will no longer be required to serve a 14-day quarantine. Earlier, Oman allowed only those who had taken Covishield to travel without quarantine.

Iran: Iran has also approved Covaxin but travellers are required to carry negative RT-PCR test reports. A traveller needs to undergo quarantine for 14 days for not carrying a negative RT-PCR test report.

Philippines: Another country that allows travellers with Covaxin is the Philippines. Travellers need to be vaccinated at least 14 days before leaving India.

Nepal: Nepal allows Covaxin beneficiaries to travel to the country with the vaccine certificate after 14 days of taking the second shot.

Apart from these countries, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Greece, Estonia, Zimbabwe, Guyana and Paraguay also allow travellers who have been administered Covaxin to visit their country.

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Covaxin delays: Dr Renu Swarup hopeful of WHO EUL for vaccine soon

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

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The coronavirus hasn’t gone off anywhere; it is going to mutate and new strains will emerge, that is the word coming in from the outgoing Secretary at the Department of Biotechnology, Dr Renu Swarup. She also weighed in on the emergency use listing (EUL) for Covaxin at the World Health Organisation (WHO) and said she was hopeful that clearance will be given to the home-grown vaccine soon.

Talking to CNBC-TV18, she said, “First of all, it is very important to understand that the government has been a partner with the entire vaccine development initiative so far. It’s not all about what really is the quantum of the financial investment that has been made but as a partner in addition to the financial investment, we have been with all vaccine manufacturers right through the development process, right through the regulatory process of clearances, facilitating their access to the ecosystem. This whole augmentation of Covaxin is an important part of that.”

“So, under that project of augmenting the Covaxin production, we have a number of groups that have come together (at) Bharat Biotech’s facility in Bengaluru. We have the Gujarat consortium which is led by Hester, the Indian Immunologicals in Hyderabad, we have BIBCOL and Haffkine. So, they are all into action,” said Dr Swarup.

Bharat Biotech’s Bengaluru facility has started operations and in the next couple of weeks, it will see capacity augmentation. Indian Immunologicals has started delivering the drug substance and drug products. Hester is next to go by the end of this year, and it should deliver. Haffkine and BIBCOL have started their work, she said, adding that since these are greenfield projects, they will come online maybe by early next year, or end of the first quarter. They will also add to production volumes. This is a PPP partnership, said Dr Swarup.

Also Read: Covaxin a Eureka moment; India needs to be more than just pharmacy of the world

She further said the technology transfer for Covaxin is a complex process, which has already started. The targets for all the others are up, and so they are looking at augmenting Covaxin production. The greenfield project has been one of the biggest challenges because it needs the BSL3. A lot of work has already gone into it, and now there is progress, but technology transfer itself is complex, Dr Swarup explained.

“So, while targets may have moved from December to the first quarter of next year, the complexity that goes into this whole manufacturing process should also be appreciated. And also considering the fact that the new facilities are going to be relevant not just for Covaxin and not just for the COVID vaccine, this is the good infrastructure that we are creating within the country for viral vaccines, which will be required maybe for other disease targets. It is an infrastructure capacity building exercise for the ecosystem,” said Dr Swarup.

On WHO EUL delay for Covaxin

She said WHO has its own norms, and they are examining it as per their own requirements.

“All I can say is that from the Government of India, from Bharat Biotech, there is an effort to make available whatever is required by them on time. But how WHO will do it and how long they are going to take is something which (will depend on) their procedures. It is important also because it will go through their entire regulatory ecosystem, their regulatory mechanism to be able to (receive) the clearance,” Dr Swarup said.

Also Read: Review of Covaxin by WHO underway; expect a recommendation within 24 hours: Spokesperson

“We are hopeful that they will be able to do it soon because Bharat Biotech has submitted all the documents that they need, and if they need any additional data, they will come back. That is something that is being responded to on a real-time basis,” Dr Swarup specified.

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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