Unless public health is prioritised over swift re-opening, the chances are that a third wave will hit India sooner than we would like.
'I can say with confidence that any future SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, developed anywhere in the world, would have to be manufactured in India, if it is to be affordable and of high quality.'
The government is targeting 1,200 technical collaborations between Japanese companies and Indian investors for over Rs 42,000 crore, 200 joint ventures with overseas investors for Rs 14,000 crore, and another Rs 14,000-crore investment from about 50 multinational companies.
During the webinar, 'COVID-19: Vaccination and Potential Return to Normalcy - If and When', Dr Hotez, an internationally-recognised physician-scientist in neglected tropical diseases and vaccine development, said that the COVID-19 vaccine rollout is "India's gift' to the world in combating the virus.
The Bengal outcome can have a marginal impact on national politics. Whereas elections in UP next year might still change the course ahead of the parliamentary poll in 2024, observes Virendra Kapoor.
Eminent virologist Shahid Jameel COVID-19 cases in the second wave also won't come down in as steady a fashion as they did after the first wave.
Early data from its vaccine candidate 'mRNA-1273' showed it produced protective antibodies in a group of eight healthy volunteers, Moderna said. The other closely watched COVID-19 vaccine is the one being developed by scientists at Oxford University.
The Serum Institute of India, the largest vaccine maker in the world, has been chosen by Oxford and its partner AstraZeneca to manufacture the vaccine once it is ready. Trials results for the first two phases were published earlier this month.
Five vaccine candidates are in advanced stages of development in India, out of which four are in Phase II/III and one is in Phase-I/II trials.
'Nobody is attacking the company or the vaccine.' 'The concerns are about the process and the lack of transparency.'
Dr Rai, who is also a principal investigator of the Bharat Biotech Covaxin clinical trial at AIIMS, said that COVID-19 preventive measures like wearing masks, hand hygiene should be followed till there is an effective vaccine.
Based on this price, state governments, private hospitals, industrial establishments, etc would be able to procure vaccine doses from the manufacturers.
Biocon was scouting for more strategic alliances and exploring opportunities for outlicensing its biotech drugs under development, as it pitches for a slot among the top three bio-pharmaceutical players across the globe, said Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairman and managing director.
Piramal Healthcare is planning a string of acquisitions in the biotech space in the US, Europe and Canada in the next two to three years.
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The NTAGI has also stated that those having laboratory test proven SARS-CoV-2 illness should defer COVID-19 vaccination for six months after recovery, the sources said.
'The Indian Academy of Sciences, strongly believes that any hasty solution that may compromise rigorous scientific processes and standards will likely have long-term adverse impacts of unforeseen magnitude on citizens of India'
At $37 per dose, the Pfizer vaccine is much more expensive compared to $3 per dose for the Covishield.
The pandemic has brutally highlighted the inadequacy of India's administrative systems. And, the government has demonstrated its culpable inability to speed up vaccination in a timely manner, says Jaimini Bhagwati.
The Centre has also contacted five domestic and three multinational vaccine makers to understand how soon a candidate vaccine against Covid-19 will be ready.
Those who have recovered from COVID-19 respond faster to the Covishield vaccine and reach high antibody levels, says a study, leading to hopes that they may not need a second dose and therefore help widen India's corona immunisation cover.
The Union government's role and the prices announced by the vaccine makers raises far too many disquieting questions, observes Prosenjit Datta.
A 40-year-old man who was a volunteer in the third phase of the ''Covidshield'' vaccine trial in Chennai has alleged serious side effects, including a virtual neurological breakdown and impairment of cognitive functions.
The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is also being produced as part of a tie-up by the Serum Institute of India.
The procurement and distribution will be centralised though the government is yet to take a call on the initial number of doses that will be procured.
The phased reopening and regulated relaxations of many key industries have paved the way for a slight recovery in hiring activities but hiring is still down by 47 per cent in July 2020 compared to the same month last year.
'Ideally, the efficacy data of all the trials should be there in the public domain, and as soon as possible.' 'It is difficult to understand the reason behind the authorisation.'
According to the findings of the phase 1/2 randomised clinical trial, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal, the vaccine candidate could induce an antibody response in participants within 28 days of the first immunisation, by giving two doses 14 days apart.
Experts said attempts from China have increased in the last year, which further amplified after the Indian government banned Chinese applications post the Galwan clash.
With economic activities gathering pace post easing of lockdowns across the country, hiring activities in most sectors have shown significant recovery in October over the previous month, says a report. On yearly basis, however, the overall hiring was down by 17 per cent in October, according to the Naukri JobSpeak Index for October' 2020.
You need, first of all, to figure out how we messed it all up so badly. You need to fix accountability. None of that is happening, says Vir Sanghvi.
Since India is one of the largest vaccine producers in the world, it is the country's 'moral responsibility' to fast-track vaccine development process to break the chain of coronavirus transmission, ICMR Director General Dr Balram Bhargava said referring to the two vaccine candidates developed indigenously.
The average rate of COVID-19 vaccination in the country has been 10.8 million per week. At that rate, it will take India till December 2024 to complete two billion doses.
India's first mRNA platform-based vaccine will remain stable at 2-8 degrees Celsius while Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine needs minus 70 degrees Celsius and Moderna vaccine can remain stable for six months at minus 20 degrees Celsius, reports Sohini Das.
A total of 3,006 session sites across all states and union territories will be virtually connected during the launch at 10.30 am by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the first phase of the pan India roll-out of COVID-19 vaccination drive at 10.30 am via video conferencing.
The government is considering setting up air freight stations to enable direct movement of vaccines from pharmaceutical factories to the aircraft.
The ED had summoned Patel, 70, twice for questioning in the case but the Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Gujarat later cited prevailing COVID-19 guidelines that advises senior citizens to stay indoors in order to remain safe from the pandemic.
Addressing a press briefing, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said 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.
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