Russia's Sputnik V vaccine and its one-shot version Sputnik Light booster demonstrates high virus-neutralising activity (VNA) against the highly-contagious Omicron variant of COVID-19, providing a strong defence against severe disease and hospitalisation, according to a study.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief economist Gita Gopinath has made a strong case for regulating cryptocurrencies, saying it will always be a challenge to ban them as they operate from offshore exchanges. Gopinath also suggested a global policy and co-ordinated action for regulating cryptocurrencies. "I think cryptocurrencies are a particular challenge for emerging markets. "It seems to be more attractive to adopt cryptocurrencies and assets in emerging economies than in advanced economies," she said while addressing an event organised by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) on Wednesday.
Calling vaccination an exercise in "preparedness and prevention", the vaccinologist said the immune response that is made has nothing to fight immediately but "we train the immune system to recognise the virus if and when it comes".
Emphasising the effect of the potential COVID third wave on children, the report said the Indian Academy of Paediatrics found that there is no biological evidence that the current and the new Delta Plus variant will affect children more than adults.
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) in a statement urged world leaders not to implement 'knee-jerk' policy decisions in response to the detection of the Omicron variant.
Analysts suggest investors remain in a wait-and-watch mode and not jump in to buy stocks across-the-board.
Dr Mishra further explained the effect of hybrid immunity on the vaccinated population and said that it is likely to give protection to people along with the Indian vaccines administered.
Booster doses of COVID-19 vaccines are the easiest barrier that must be created immediately against Omicron, according to eminent virologist Dr T Jacob John, who noted that it may not seed the third wave of the pandemic, but breakthrough infections may be common due to the new variant.
A 'very large' number of Indians are likely to remain protected from Omicron or any other variant of COVID-19 and there is no need to panic, eminent virologist Dr Shahid Jameel has said.
The UK on Saturday detected two cases of the new COVID-19 variant, Omicron, according to health secretary Sajid Javid as he added four more African countries to Britain's travel red list.
Soumya Swaminathan called on governments to boost exercises on reporting actual numbers.
The 13th edition of the Aero India Show kicked off at the Yelahanka Air Force station on the outskirts of Bengaluru on February 3. This is the first hybrid show, wherein 600 exhibitors are participating, 78 of whom are foreign companies.
The coronavirus pandemic has taught that viruses cannot be taken lightly, and the unpredictability in emerging scenarios of health have to be respected and addressed, Paul noted.
The notice was issued under Section 41 of the CrPC, a police official said.
Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan held a review meeting with states and Union Territories on Tuesday and advised them to ramp up testing for early identification and management of cases.
A 39-year-old Chandigarh resident who had returned from South Africa a few days ago tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday and his sample will now be sent to Delhi for whole genome sequencing.
Union minister Narayan Rane approached the Bombay high court on Tuesday, challenging the FIRs registered against him in parts of Maharashtra over his remarks against state Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, and sought protection from arrest.
In the ensemble trial, Johnson & Johnson's vaccine was 85 per cent effective against severe/critical disease and demonstrated protection against hospitalisation and death. The vaccine was consistently effective across all regions studied globally, including in South Africa and Brazil, where there was a high prevalence of rapidly emerging Beta and Zeta variants during the study period.
The city's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) has put in place all necessary measures to implement the health ministry's latest COVID-19 guidelines on international passengers arriving in India, the private airport operator said on Wednesday.
People aged 45 and above account for about 88 per cent of all COVID-19 deaths in India making them the most vulnerable section, the Union health ministry said on Wednesday, a day after the government opened up vaccinations for all those in the age bracket from April 1.
AB de Villiers demolished KKR with a magnificent unbeaten 73 from just 33 balls.
The Union health ministry on Friday said while there is no evidence to suggest that existing vaccines do not work on the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, some of the mutations reported may decrease the efficacy of the jabs.
Infosys will pay California $800,000 to resolve allegations that, between 2006 and 2017, approximately 500 Infosys employees were working in the state on Infosys-sponsored B-1 visas rather than H-1B visas, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said. In 2017, Infosys had agreed to pay the State of New York $1 million to settle allegations of submitting wrong documents to federal authorities.
The B-1617 variant of the coronavirus, first identified in India, has been classified as a variant of concern at the global level by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
'This virus may have more immune evasion capability and therefore, it may make you more sick.'
America's top infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci has said that the new COVID-19 Omicron variant is in 'fluid motion' in South Africa and the US scientists are in 'very active' communication with their colleagues in that country to test the strain, get facts and find out whether or not it evades the antibodies.
The highly virulent 'Delta plus' variant of the novel coronavirus could stoke a third wave in Maharashtra, according to a presentation made at a meeting attended by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.
The Singapore government on Wednesday conveyed to the Indian High Commissioner its strong objection to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's comments about a 'Singapore variant' of COVID-19, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.
As a proactive step, the government has already placed nations, where this VoC has been found, in the category of 'at risk' countries for additional follow-up measures of international travellers coming into lndia from these destinations, he said in a letter dated November 27.
The Delta variant is more transmissible than the viruses that cause MERS, SARS, Ebola, the common cold, the seasonal flu and smallpox, and it is as contagious as chickenpox, according to the document, a copy of which was also obtained by The New York Times.
The international team of researchers combined lab-based experiments and epidemiology of vaccine breakthrough infections, showing that the Delta variant is better at replicating and spreading than other commonly-observed variants.
The ministry, however, said it could not be sufficiently established yet if these variants were behind the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in some states.
England posted a world record 481 for six before they demolished Australia by 242 runs in the third match of their ODI series at Trent Bridge, Nottingham on Tuesday.
'The virus is constantly, constantly making mistakes when it replicates.' 'When the virus has accumulated enough mistakes, then it becomes now a variant and it behaves differently.'
The latest variant is the most heavily mutated version discovered so far.
A Nashik police team is on its way to Raigad to arrest the Union minister.
Uttam Ghosh offers his take on the decisions of airlines banning stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra for his alleged heckling television journalist Arnab Goswami aboard a flight on Tuesday.
The Department of Health and Social Care said a total of 81,959,398 doses of COVID vaccines have been administered in the UK, with 46,227,101 people receiving a first dose (87.8 per cent) and 35,732,297 people receiving both doses (67.8 per cent).
The Delta variant of COVID-19, or the B1.617.2 variant of concern (VOC) first identified in India, is about 60 per cent more transmissible than the Alpha strain identified in the United Kingdom and also reduces the effectiveness of vaccines to some extent, UK health experts report.
David Quarrey, 55, a 10 Downing Street aide, had tested negative in his pre-travel test but tested positive a week after his return when the National Health Service flagged that someone on his flight had been traced as COVID-positive, The Sunday Times reports.
