There was speculation that a one-time special Covid-19 cess would be imposed and that it would raise an estimated Rs 18,000 crore.
The US vice-president-elect received a dose of the Moderna vaccine from clinical nurse Patricia Cummings at United Medical Center, which is located in Southeast Washington, DC.
PM Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced that all people will be provided free of cost vaccines.
'We are the only country in the world where everybody gets a digital vaccination certificate immediately... Then as we open up, as they did yesterday, which I think is a welcome move, you will have lots and lots of points where people will come in'
The vaccine arrives at a critical moment for the US. Hospitalisations due to COVID-19 hit record highs for the seventh day in a row on Saturday.
New Zealand Cricket (NZC) said on Tuesday all of its home-based players heading to England for a two-match Test series and the World Test Championship final have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
The Indian government and private firms have stepped up efforts to develop a vaccine to halt the spread of COVID-19 which has claimed over 3,700 lives with more than 1,25,000 cases in the country.
Sputnik V is already approved in India and Sinovac is unlikely to come in as it does not meet the criteria.
"I think we'll have a vaccine by the end of the year," Trump said at a Fox News virtual town hall. "We'll have a vaccine much sooner rather than later."
An expert committee in Karnataka has concluded that there is no association between premature cardiovascular disease and a prior history of Covid-19 infection or Covid vaccination. The report suggests that common risk factors like hypertension, diabetes, and smoking are more likely causes.
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.
'I took a Chinese vaccine named Sinopharm and I want people to know it is absolutely safe. I was administered the first dose on January 6. I have to go back for a second dose on January 27.'
Modi urged the country to show patience during the vaccination drive as it had shown till now in fighting the pandemic.
Admitting that a vaccine or drug-based treatment is the only feasible long-term solution, he said the UK has accelerated this with promising vaccine development programmes and a collaboration between Oxford University and pharma major AstraZeneca was a vital step that could help rapidly advance the manufacture of a Covid-19 vaccine when it is ready.
'You will not have a vaccine for everyone initially.'
'No matter how much the political pressure is, I cannot say I will bring the Moon for you tomorrow!'
According to the World Health Organisation, 10 candidate vaccines for COVID-19 are in the clinical evaluation and 126 are in the pre-clinical stage.
'We are going ahead with the trials assuming what we have is the vaccine.' 'There is also a chance that what you have is not the vaccine. Then, you have to go back to the drawing board again.' 'So far, there has been no success in developing a good vaccine against coronaviruses.' 'That's why there are hundreds of trials going on at different stages in different parts of the world.'
Aryna Sabalenka expressed more concern over the vaccine than her quarterfinal opponent No 1 Ash Barty
Scientists assumed a range of possible scenarios to carry out the simulation rather than predict exactly what will happen with the current pandemic.
There is a decisive shift in how cancer may soon be confronted and, hopefully, defeated.
Zydus plans to initiate the clinical trials of ZyCoV-D in July 2020 across multiple sites in India. In animal studies the vaccine was found to elicit a strong immune response in multiple animal species like mice, rats, guinea pigs and rabbits.
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.
'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.'
If the vaccine is safe and shows a promising immune response in humans, then larger trials would be planned for later in the year.
This new trial, a single-blind, randomised Phase II trial, will enrol 300 volunteers, with up to 240 of these volunteers receiving the ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine and the remainder a control meningitis vaccine, which has been shown to be safe in children but is expected to produce similar reactions, such as a sore arm.
The researchers found that after being exposed to high levels of the novel coronavirus, none of the six monkeys that were given the vaccine developed viral pneumonia. Also, there was no sign that the vaccine had made the animals more vulnerable.
International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said on Tuesday that athletes would not be forced to get COVID-19 vaccinations ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, but he said they should as a "demonstration of solidarity" with the Japanese.
Doses of the vaccine were given to 1,077 healthy adults aged between 18 and 55 in five United Kingdom hospitals in April and May as part of the phase one clinical trial.
As India holds its breath for the Covid vaccination to be begin, Sudhir Bisht provides a quick checklist of what you must know about the vaccines that will be administered to citizens.
The modus operandi for immunising the country's 1.35 billion population in stages has been thrashed out in more than one meeting among top government officials in the health ministry and the Prime Minister's Office.
All Spanish athletes competing at this year's Tokyo Olympics will be vaccinated against COVID-19 before heading to the Games, the President of Spain's National Council for Sports Jose Manuel Franco said on Wednesday.
The DCGI also directed Serum Institute of India to increase the safety monitoring of the subjects already vaccinated as part of the trial, and submit the plan and report.
The United Kingdom on Wednesday became the first country to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19, paving the way for mass vaccinations against the deadly novel coronavirus.
Laws governing compensation in case of adverse side effects for Covaxin and Covishield may differ in accordance with the kind of approvals given, say legal experts.
There were apprehensions in the SII about rival Bharat Biotech's 'indigenous' tag, opening up shortcuts for it. One senior person, who was very familiar with the sector, told me, 'The message has gone out from the very top. Somani (V G Somani -- drug controller general of India) has told me "Bharat ka karna hai".' A fascinating excerpt from Abantika Ghosh's Billions Under Lockdown: The Inside Story Of India's Fight Against COVID-19.
The Supreme Court of India has advised a petitioner, who claims to have suffered disability due to the side effects of the first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, to file a suit for damages instead of pursuing his plea before the court. The court suggested that filing a suit could provide quicker relief than waiting for a potentially lengthy decision on the petition.
A study by AIIMS-Delhi and ICMR found no link between COVID-19 vaccination and sudden cardiac arrests in young individuals, citing lifestyle factors as more prominent causes.
Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju said India's Olympic-bound athletes and the support staff will be given priority when the COVID-19 vaccine becomes available in the country.
Addressing the nation on 74th Independence Day from ramparts of Red Fort, the PM also spoke of the steps taken to increase the number of labs and production of protective equipment to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
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