All COVID vaccines do not prevent infection and are primarily disease-modifying, said Dr Balram Bhargava, director general, Indian Council of Medical Research on Thursday.
Bharat Biotech, Serum Institute, Zydus Cadila, Panacea Biotec, Indian Immunologicals, Mynvax and Biological E are among the domestic pharma firms working on the coronavirus vaccines in India.
The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) has recommended the environmental release of the genetically modified (GM) mustard variety DMH (Dhara Mustard Hybrid)-11, paving the way for the commercialisation of the country's first GM food crop. The GEAC said the recommendation was valid for four years from the date the approval letter was issued. Further studies and coordinated trials will have to be conducted jointly with the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) within two years, according to the minutes of the GEAC meeting held on October 18, which was released on Wednesday.
Registering a steady increase for the 18th day in row, the active cases have increased to 4,86,310 comprising 4.06 per cent of the total infections, while the recovery rate has further dropped to 94.58 per cent, the data stated.
He urged people not to panic and clarified that there was no change in the guidelines for international air travel so far.
'We will teach them about our idol Mohammad Sahab and all the great men of other religions as well -- about Shri Ram, Krishna, Yeshu, Bhagwan Mahavir.' 'We want children from the madrasas to become doctors, engineers, scientists, soldiers and walk in the footsteps of Dr A P J Abdul Kalam.' 'That is why we have named the modern madrasas after Dr Kalam.'
Safety and Efficacy results from the final analysis will be available in June, and the final report will be submitted to a peer-reviewed publication.
The second wave is expected based on what is happening in Europe, the govt said.
The Global Hunger Index exaggerates the measure of hunger, lacks statistical vigour and has problems on multiple counts, Union Health Ministry sources said.
India is loosing a whopping Rs 18,000 crore (Rs 180 billion) annually due to the dreaded foot and mouth disease (FMD) in cattle and livestock, a senior official of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) said.
A 22-year-old man, who recently returned to Kerala from the UAE, allegedly died due to monkeypox on Saturday.
It's a season of change at economic think tanks.
In a tweet, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said, "7,040 people underwent rapid-antigen test at 193 centres across Delhi. Of this, 456 people have been found positive."
'SII has started stockpiling the vaccine and now has roughly 40 million doses ready. It is using some of the capacities it had for under development products for the COVID-19 vaccine and by January we will have a capacity to make 100 million doses per month and a stockpile of 200 million doses.'
A total of 76,56,478 people have recuperated from the infection so far, pushing the national recovery rate to 92.09 per cent, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.49 per cent.
India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23 and 40 lakh on September 5. It went past 50 lakh on September 16, 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11 and crossed 80 lakh on October 29.
The ICMR-NICED authorities said it could be possibly because the kits "have not been standardized"
A total of 74,91,513 people have recuperated from COVID-19 so far taking the national recovery rate to 91.54 per cent while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.49 per cent.
A person who has cancer and doesn't have any health insurance will find it difficult to buy a regular hospitalisation cover. An indemnity-based cancer plan may cover them.
Officials said several witnesses were heard on the impact of the pandemic. They added that this was the longest meeting of the panel without a break so far.
When several opposition MPs expressed their desire to ask questions about the Centre's vaccination policy such as increasing the gap between two doses, the BJP MPs strongly opposed it and few of them even demanded postponement of the meeting and walked out, the sources said.
There are 6,68,154 active cases of COVID-19 in the country as on date which comprise 8.50 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.
"The Indian Medical Association has requested all its 3.5 lakh members in 1,800 local branches to voluntarily come out to get vaccinated first to show the world that these vaccines are safe and efficacious," it said.
'Those who had no participation in the freedom struggle and creating history are keeping out one of the heroes of the independence struggle. This act, done out of political vindictiveness, is not good and shows their narrow mindset. It is an insult of each and every freedom fighter,' Raut claimed.
Thirty districts in the country, including 13 in Kerala, eight in Mizoram, four in Meghalaya, three each in Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, two in Sikkim and one in Meghalaya are reporting a weekly positivity rate of over 10 per cent.
ICMR Director General said some studies have suggested that antibodies last for three months while some others said they may last in the body for up to five months also.
India logged 44,877 infections, while the death toll climbed to 5,08,665 with 684 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.
There are now 1,348 testing labs in the country comprising 914 in the public sector and 434 private labs.
There are 7,72,055 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country which comprises 10.23 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.
The Union health ministry on Wednesday dismissed media reports claiming there was dissent from technical experts about increasing the gap between two Covishield doses and said the decision was based on scientific reason about the behaviour of adenovector vaccines.
Some of the Indian students at the Tri-Valley University in California, who are in danger of being deported after the college was shut down over alleged visa fraud, are being made to wear ankle bracelets so that they can be tracked. The students are mostly from Andhra Pradesh.
In the trial, the vaccine will be given by the intramuscular route in two doses on day 0 and day 28.
Bharat Biotech's Covaxin has demonstrated 77.8 per cent effectiveness against symptomatic COVID-19 and 65.2 per cent protection against the new Delta variant.
The way video is being watched and monetised is changing. This is the first thing that stands out as the penetration of smart TVs continues to rise.
'That's the beauty of Mumbai cricket. Nobody interferes with the running of the cricket, only the cricketers are allowed to run the cricket.'
The single greatest empowerment to our economic growth as we continue to move towards three per cent or four per cent GDP growth will be the resources that we need to fill hi-tech jobs, advanced degrees, advanced analytics, science and research: Senator Thom Tillis.
The active cases comprise 3.42 per cent of the total infections.
Raches Ella, project lead, Covid-19 vaccines at Bharat Biotech said in a series of tweets that he was 'surprised' that media and researchers were drawing conclusions based on non-peer reviewed work.
Growing number of Internet and broadband connections can give the Indian economy the much-needed fillip by adding $ 17 billion to the gross domestic product (GDP) annually.
References to freedom fighter and India's first education minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad have been removed from the new class 11 political science textbook by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
