We should be relieved that we got the doses but we must also know where they came from and who was and who was not responsible for this achievement, notes Aakar Patel.
Winning against Covid means thinking ahead, at least six months, putting in place the likely scenarios of what might happen, and then planning. Planning is the role of the government. Having planned, it should communicate what and why. Then, get out of the way, recommends Naushad Forbes.
Oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd head Mukesh Ambani continues to be the richest Indian and has now broken into the world's top 10 wealthiest persons in the latest Forbes 2024 Billionaire List. Ambani, 66, is ranked 9th on the list with a wealth of $116 billion, up from $83.4 billion in the 2023 ranking, according to Forbes. Gautam Adani is the second richest Indian and is ranked at No.17 on the global list.
'I understand some people are comfortable getting a Covishield shot as their third dose.'
The Quad partnership is on track to produce at least a billion vaccine doses in India by 2022, US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday, asserting that nothing is more urgent than working together to defeat COVID-19 so the world is much better prepared for future pandemics.
The vaccination drive was only one important part of India's globally recognised pandemic management and response strategy, observes Dr Vinod K Paul.
The prime minister in his intervention at the session on "global economy and global health" also flagged the issue of facilitating international travel and talked about the mechanism of mutual recognition of vaccine certification as a means of achieving this, according to the text of his intervention shared by his office.
Fresh cases of Covid-19 are again spiking globally, especially in parts of Asia, after several weeks of decline and this rise is "just the tip of the iceberg", World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned.
865 million Indian adults require vaccination.
'Since the Covid virus has a tendency to mutate, we can continue to expect new variants of the virus to emerge and keep circulating and recirculating in the communities.'
With the threat of COVID-19 pandemic continuing to loom over the world, the Ministry of Ayush has come out with a comprehensive document putting forth the concept of 'holistic health'.
The United States has so far allocated only 7.5 million doses of Covid vaccines to India, which is not enough, a top Indian-American Congressman said while urging the Biden Administration to do more.
Amid prolonged uncertainty, continued policy support will be crucial for sustained economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das said at the recent meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee. "In this period of prolonged uncertainty, it would be wise to remain agile and respond in a gradual, calibrated and well telegraphed manner to the emerging challenges," opined Das, according to the minutes of the MPC meeting released by the Reserve Bank on Thursday. Observing that economic recovery from the pandemic remains incomplete and uneven, he said, "continued support from various policies remains crucial for a sustained recovery." The governor said the renewed surge in international crude oil prices, however, requires close monitoring.
It also demanded that the government expedite the proposal of vaccinating individuals aged 12 to 18 years.
Announcements will be made on airplanes, ships, metros and at railway stations when India achieves its target of 100 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses while private carrier Spicejet will wrap its planes with posters of this milestone carrying images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and health workers, health minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Thursday.
'All actions for COVID-19 should be the same as for other routine health conditions.' 'There is no need to report the matter in the media all the time; not on front page please.'
SII would be scaling up its AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine manufacturing capacity to 200 million doses a month from 100 million a month now, reports Sohini Das.
Adar Poonawalla says it took a five-minute chat with his father Cyrus before making the decision to manufacture Covishield. The bet paid off, and handsomely. Serum Institute now has the capacity to make 4 billion doses of Covishield annually.
As India holds its breath for the Covid vaccination to be begin, Sudhir Bisht provides a quick checklist of what you must know about the vaccines that will be administered to citizens.
Half of the nation's 100 richest saw gains rising a collective 14% to $517.5 billion, says Forbes. Forbes released 2020's top 100 richest Indians on Thursday, which included newcomers, Sanjeev Bikhchandani, co-founder of Info Edge (India), who owns popular job and property websites; siblings Nithin and Nikhil Kamath, co-founders of discount stock brokerage Zerodha Broking, and three specialty chemicals producers - Vinod Saraf, founder of Vinati Organics, Arun Bharat Ram, the patriarch of SRF, and brothers Chandrakant and Rajendra Gogri of Aarti Industries. Other newcomers included Delhi-based brothers Ramesh Kumar and Mukand Lal Dua of Relaxo Footwears, which owns affordable footwear brands; dairyman, R G Chandramogan of Hatsun Agro; Premchand Godha, who chairs IPCA Laboratories, manufacturing formulations, bulk drugs and drug intermediates; G Rajendran, founder of jewellery chain, GRT Jewellers.
'Scientific data has proven that masks can reduce COVID-91 transmission by 53 per cent...A booster dose of vaccine, even if it works, is just a temporary fix'
Petrol and diesel prices were hiked for the fourth consecutive day on Saturday by 35 paise per litre, pushing the total increase in rates on petrol to Rs 36 per litre and on diesel to Rs 26.58 since early May 2020 when taxes on the two fuels were raised to record levels. Petrol in Delhi now costs Rs 107.24 a litre and diesel comes for Rs 95.97, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers. The latest increase that follows the unrelenting hike in international oil prices has pushed pump rates across the country to their highest-ever levels.
The prime minister also visited the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi after the milestone was achieved and interacted with hospital officials.
... 'Or any country which has reasonable vaccine coverage.' 'The emergence of Omicron clearly proves that if we allow a virus to circulate in an unvaccinated population, it would take a form which could be a Variant of Concern, or a new variant.'
It is too early to write Narendra Modi's political obituary, asserts Virendra Kapoor.
'The immune protection may well wane somewhat, and that's what we have to monitor.' 'Should it wane to the point where vaccinated individuals are getting severe disease, then we really will need to give them booster shots and that'll apply regardless of what vaccine they've got the first time.'
The PM's visit would signal a strong intent towards making sure India becomes a beneficiary as vaccines become a massively traded commodity in the coming years.
'The roadmap ahead seems very difficult especially in the rural areas where there is very poor infrastructure, vaccine reach and hesitancy.' 'These are a deadly cocktail for the next wave.'
The Indian vaccine market is forecast to grow at 23 per cent from 2009-10 through 2011-12 registering revenues around $ 2 billion.
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