The government may look at areas around Thonnakkal, in Thiruvananthapuram district, for the facility. If successful, this would be one of the few sites of Sputnik V owned by Russian firms outside that country. Shine Jacob and Sohini Das report.
Government institutions and pharma industry are examining if a 'cocktail' approach to making a multi-variant Covid-19 vaccine works against multiple strains of the ever-mutating virus, reports Sohini Das.
'Its efficacy is 97.6 per cent.'
Asked if the government has decided to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to the entire population free of cost on priority basis and if so, the target fixed to administer the doses, the health minister said according to Revised Guidelines for Implementation of National COVID Vaccination Program, which came into effect from June 21, all citizens aged 18 years and above, irrespective of their income status, are entitled to free vaccination at all government vaccination centres.
Results of an interim study recently published in The Lancet showed that two doses of Covaxin, also known as BBV152, had 77.8 per cent efficacy against symptomatic disease and present no serious safety concerns.
As India gets ready to roll out one of the largest vaccine programmes, billionaire Mukesh Ambani on Tuesday said his group is working with authorities to provide technology tools and backbone for mass inoculation against COVID-19. Ambani's telecom venture Jio was rolled out four years back, offering free voice calling and dirt-cheap data. Today, Jio is India's largest telecom operator with over 400 million users, each connected to the internet. At a Facebook event, Ambani said the government's digital push kept the country running even during the pandemic and is now helping in the rollout of one of the largest vaccination programmes.
The COVID-19 vaccines can be "tweaked" to provide protection against new variants of the virus, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, Director Dr Randeep Guleria said.
Total investment in this sector is expected to cross Rs 200 crore
India is expecting 156 million doses of the vaccine from August to September, reports Ruchika Chitravanshi.
'The residents are a bit apprehensive about the lack of complete trial in case of Covaxin and might not participate in huge numbers thus defeating the purpose of vaccination. We request you to vaccinate us with Covishield which has completed all stages of trial before its roll-out'
Even as the inoculation drive against COVID-19 is set to start in two days, a Maharashtra government official said on Thursday that it will take six to seven months for the vaccine to become available for those who are not in the high-risk category.
Hiring activity in the country, which was hit by the second COVID wave, bounced back with a 15 per cent growth in June compared to May, according to a report. The activity was led by the IT-software/software services sector. The latest Naukri JobSpeak report on Thursday said that India's hiring trends grew 15 per cent in June with 2,359 job postings from 2,047 in May.
Three temperature-controlled trucks rolled out of the Serum Institute gates shortly before 5 am and left for Pune airport, from where the vaccines will be flown across India.
The trial is to be conducted on 525 healthy volunteers. In the trial, the vaccine will be given by intramuscular route in two doses at day 0 and day 28.
Clinical trials, agri-biotech and bio-fuels are becoming opportunities. There are a lot of growth drivers and trigger points which, she said, will deliver in the next five years.
No decision on granting indemnity to any foreign or Indian Covid vaccine-manufactures has been taken yet, the government said Friday, underlining these decisions are to be taken 'in the interest of nation and people'.
About 18-19 coronavirus vaccine candidates are in different clinical trial stages and may be available in the coming months, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Monday.
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,06,11,731 which translates to a national COVID-19 recovery rate of 97.31 per cent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.43 per cent.
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.
In a video issued by the Health Ministry, Dr Randeep Guleria, Director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) answered commonly asked questions regarding the dosage of the vaccine saying that two doses of the vaccine will have to be taken 28 days apart and protective levels of antibodies generally would develop two weeks after the second dose.
The exposure, which is for the period ended September 2019, is across various platforms such as life funds, pension funds, and unit-linked funds.
The SC said journalists' work can be done without coming in contact with people unlike lawyers and asked the Centre to consider the legal fraternity's request for priority in COVID-19 vaccination saying their livelihood depends on direct interaction with their clients.
An expert panel of the country's drugs regulatory authority had recommended against granting such approval to the firm at this stage just two days ago, officials said.
Dr Reddy's Laboratories on Friday soft-launched imported COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V, with Deepak Sapra, a senior executive of the drug-maker, taking the first shot in Hyderabad.
Prime Minister Modi has said India's vaccine production and delivery capacity will be used for the benefit of all humanity to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. He said last week India was ready to do everything possible for a healthy planet.
This divisiveness is upsetting social cohesion and can throw the bright young people thronging to Bengaluru with billion dollar ideas in their creative minds off balance, warns Shekhar Gupta.
A source closely involved in logistical arrangements said the movement of vaccine doses is likely to start from early Tuesday morning through road and air routes amid elaborate police security.
The first nationwide mock drill was held on January 2 which, the health ministry said, helped to iron out any glitches in the final execution and further refinement of the operational procedures.
The Enforcement Directorate has alleged that this is a bigger bank scam in volume than that of the Punjab National Bank fraud by fugitive diamantaires Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, as it involves fraud to the tune of about Rs 16,000 crore.
Cautioning that the country is passing through a phase when there are festivals and potential gatherings, he said this is a critical phase as the virus can spread again.
Easing restrictions, all private hospitals were on Tuesday allowed to give the vaccines if they adhere to the laid down norms, while the 9 am to 5 pm timing was also done away with.
'We expect to get the approval in the next few weeks,' says Deepak Sapra, CEO, API and pharmaceutical services, Dr Reddy's Laboratories (DRL).
The announcement comes a day after the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) on COVID-19 of the CDSCO recommended granting emergency use authorisation (EUA) to the COVID-19 vaccines Covovax and Corbevax with certain conditions.
Kejriwal said COVID-19 vaccines should have one price and appealed to the Centre to bring down the price.
At 8 million a month, times two doses, it will take us 17 years to administer the vaccine to our 800 million adults. The rollout must speed up twenty times, asserts Naushad Forbes.
Three COVID-19 vaccine candidates, including two indigenous ones, are in different phases of development in India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of providing free inoculation to all adults will entail total spending of anywhere between Rs 45,000 crore and Rs 50,000 crore. This is higher than Rs 35,000 crore that the government had budgeted.
British nationals arriving in India, irrespective of their vaccination status, will have to undergo 10 days of mandatory quarantine from October 4 as part of the reciprocal actions initiated by the government following the vaccine certification row between the two countries.
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