Vaccinating all citizens above the age of 18 years against COVID-19 will cost Rs 67,193 crore, of which states together will incur Rs 46,323 crore, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) said on Thursday. As the second wave of COVID-19 sweeps the country with alarming speed and severity, the government has announced a liberalised and accelerated Phase 3 strategy of COVID-19 vaccination. Under this scheme, all persons above 18 years of age will be eligible to get COVID-19 vaccine doses from May 1.
Dominic Xavier offers his take on Russia's covid vaccine which scientists are sceptical about.
'WHO & an independent group of experts are scheduled to meet next week to carry out the risk/benefit assessment and come to a final decision whether to grant Emergency Use Listing to Covaxin,' the global health body tweeted.
The Centre has accorded a security cover of armed Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) commandos for the Hyderabad premises of Bharat Biotech, one of the major COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers in the country, official sources said on Tuesday.
Sources said the equipment is being brought to India through both sea and air routes.
The CEOs of four tech giants -- Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google -- appeared before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law on Wednesday to address concerns that their businesses may be harming competition.
Putin said the purpose of the West is to weaken, divide and ultimately destroy Russia.
Putin justified his decision in a speech blaming NATO for the current crisis and calling the US-led alliance an existential threat to Russia.
"Within two weeks, the first batch of the vaccine will be released," Murashko said at a press conference.
Initial data has shown immunity triggered by the two mRNA vaccines -- Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna -- lasts for at least six months
During the meeting, scheduled to be held through video conference at 6 pm on Tuesday, the Department of Biotechnology will make a presentation and also coordinate with all the participants, sources added.
Zydus Cadila has agreed to bring down the price of its COVID-19 vaccine to Rs 265 a dose following persistent negotiations by the government but a final deal is yet to be reached, sources said on Sunday.
'Putin is just flexing his muscles. He is not going to do anything. He is not that crazy.'
The German government had announced tight measures regarding freedom of movement of citizens in the country due to the epidemiological (control of disease) situation.
Hundreds of 'mujahideen' are heading towards the state of Panjshir to control the province, Sputnik reported citing a news agency.
United States President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Wednesday smiled and greeted each other awkwardly with a handshake outside a villa in Geneva, before heading in for a highly-anticipated summit.
The most likely scenario is that in order to stop Ukraine from retaking any Russian occupied territory, Russia may well use a small (1 to 2 kilo tonne) tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine, warns military historian Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
In a recent letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, SII said its employees have been working round the clock in spite of various challenges because of the pandemic.
Reports coming from the ground confirm that an intense battle between Taliban and opposition forces to control the Panjshir Valley north of Kabul, the last Afghan province holding out against the group.
In China, the toll stood at around 3,250 and in Italy it was 3,405.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said that more pharma companies should be allowed to manufacture the COVID-19 vaccine in the country during the pandemic to scale up production.
Apart from the 1.1 crore doses of Covishield being procured from the Serum Institute of India, 55 lakh doses of indigenously developed Covaxin were being obtained from Bharat Biotech, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said at a press conference.
With talks underway between the central government and Zydus Cadila over the pricing of the COVID-19 vaccine ZyCov-D, the pharma company is learnt to have proposed a price of Rs 1,900 for its three-dose jab that can be given to those above 12 years of age.
This means there are now four promising vaccines on the horizon after Pfizer-BioNTech, Sputnik and Moderna already reporting good preliminary data from Phase 3 trials.
Putin warned other countries that any attempt to interfere with the Russian action would lead to 'consequences'.
While virologists say theoretically the vaccine that works on Delta should work on the Delta Plus variant as well, more research is needed.
India is committed to supplying COVID-19 vaccines to other nations and such supplies are likely to begin by the end of this year, as the abundant production will not just meet domestic needs but also generate surplus for exports a top government official said on Monday.
In what is seen as the first sign of China's exasperation over Russia's Ukraine war, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday raised 'questions and concerns' over the conflict in his meeting in Samarkand with Russian President Vladimir Putin who thanked Beijing for its 'balanced position' on the crisis.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished his Russian counterpart an early recovery
The panel was informed that the economic impact of the second wave of viral infection was "asynchronous in its onset and wider in its spread particularly in rural hinterland", a source said.
If the DCGI grants regular marketing authorisation, Covishied will be the second vaccine in the world to receive such approval.
As states grapple with a shortage of coronavirus vaccines, the Centre on Thursday said that over two billion doses will be made available in the country in five months between August and December, enough to vaccinate the entire population.
The World Health Organisation's technical advisory group will meet on October 26 to consider the Emergency Use Listing (EUL) of Covaxin, a vaccine developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech protecting against COVID-19, the global health agency's chief scientist said.
Xi Jinping's recent actions in South Asia have amply demonstrated the disastrous impact of China's embrace, observes Jayadeva Ranade, the retired senior RA&W officer and China expert.
As India prepares to launch its vaccine drive on January 16, here is a look at the options:
The Maharashtra government has decided to stop home quarantining of COVID-19 patients in 18 districts where the positivity rate is high and all active patients in these areas would be admitted to COVID Care Centers, health minister Rajesh Tope said.
Though there is no official word, the sources said the government is not ready to give in to the indemnity demands of the US drug manufacturers against liabilities in case of adverse effects.
Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani has fled the war-torn country aboard a helicopter stuffed with money but had to leave some cash as it could not be squeezed into the chopper, according to Russian official media reports on Monday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that if 'negotiations' with Russian President Vladimir Putin fail then 'that would mean that this is a third World War'.
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing on Friday for the 2022 Winter Olympics and a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, bringing with him a deal to increase natural gas supplies to China amid rising tension with the West.
