As India gets ready to roll out one of the largest vaccine programmes, billionaire Mukesh Ambani on Tuesday said his group is working with authorities to provide technology tools and backbone for mass inoculation against COVID-19. Ambani's telecom venture Jio was rolled out four years back, offering free voice calling and dirt-cheap data. Today, Jio is India's largest telecom operator with over 400 million users, each connected to the internet. At a Facebook event, Ambani said the government's digital push kept the country running even during the pandemic and is now helping in the rollout of one of the largest vaccination programmes.
The COVID-19 pandemic, which has infected over 30 lakh people worldwide, has halted all sports, including badminton, across the globe with even the Tokyo Olympics being pushed to next year. Tennis star Novak Djokovic had recently said he is opposed to a compulsory coronavirus vaccination.
'We have to be wary because if an uncontrolled transmission happens, random mutations may lead to something which could be virulent and then that could land us in a problem.'
The UK's National Health Service was already lining up thousands of medics and volunteers to be ready to deliver jabs up and down the country.
'The US has invoked the Defence Act and banned export of raw materials.' 'This is as good as banning vaccines.'
Presentations were given by the Department of Science and Technology, Department of Biotechnology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the principal scientific adviser to the government before the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Climate on the Centre's COVID-19 preparedness.
As of Thursday, he said total deaths in America due to COVID-19 is over 527,000. That's more deaths than in World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War, and 9/11 combined, he said.
The United Kingdom government has pledged 20 million to support the "ChAdOx1 nCoV-19" coronavirus vaccine trial programme, with UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock saying the government would "throw everything at" finding a vaccine against the deadly virus.
The Supreme Court questioned petitioners who challenged the accuracy of India's COVID-19 vaccine adverse effect data, suggesting they unduly trusted UK figures. The court heard arguments about alleged deaths due to the Covishield vaccine and reserved its order.
A model being considered is to have a combined cold chain approach - where the agricultural cold chain would be combined with vaccine cold chains.
The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers getting inoculated and vaccination of frontline workers started from February 2.
Novak Djokovic said the shortness and timing of Jannik Sinner's ban this year for an inadvertent doping violation was "odd" and the case would hang over the four-time Grand Slam champion like a cloud for the rest of his career.
The ministry further stated that it was advisable to receive a complete schedule of the anti-coronavirus vaccine irrespective of past history of infection with COVID-19 as this will help in developing a strong immune response against the disease.
Easing restrictions, all private hospitals were on Tuesday allowed to give the vaccines if they adhere to the laid down norms, while the 9 am to 5 pm timing was also done away with.
'The government should put the whole road map together for the vaccine and decide how industry can support...' 'They should allow the private sector to vaccinate.'
So far the coronavirus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has infected more than 54 million people around the world and killed over 1.3 million others.
Modi on Saturday will embark on a three-city tour to take stock of the COVID-19 vaccine development work.
Without naming the entity, he said some players are at a pre-clinical stage and may reach the clinical stage by October. Responding to a question on absence of a vaccine currently and the prospects in the next few months as the lockdown eases, VijayRaghvan emphasised on aggressive rapid testing and tracking.
Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz clash in the Australian Open final with history on the line as Djokovic chases a record 25th Slam and Alcaraz eyes a career Grand Slam.
More than 2 million people have been diagnosed with coronavirus across the world, and the pharmaceutical industry is pulling out all stops to find potential treatments and vaccines for the global pandemic. According to the World Health Organization, there are now more than 70 potential vaccines under evelopment, with some already in clinical trials.
Despite these rare occurrences, the pharmaceutical company maintains that extensive clinical trial data and real-world evidence consistently support the vaccine's safety and efficacy.
As the country eagerly awaits an expected coronavirus vaccination drive in January, at least 125 intended beneficiaries each in four states who had registered on the Co-WIN App were on Monday sent SMSes informing them about the time and place of their 'COVID-19 vaccination' under a mock-drill to administer the shots at designated centres.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar asserts India's right to defend against terrorism from 'bad neighbours' while highlighting India's support for friendly nations.
Researchers at McGill University in Canada carried out a survey of 28 experts working in vaccinology in late June 2020. The majority of those surveyed were mostly Canadian or American academics with an average of 25 years of experience working in the field.
The number of healthcare and frontline workers vaccinated against the coronavirus in the country has surpassed 85 lakh, the Union health ministry said on Monday.
The president also said one of his daughters has been given a shot of the COVID-19 vaccination. "One of my daughters got vaccinated. In fact, she took part in an experiment. After the first vaccination, she had a [body] temperature of 38 degrees [Celcius, 100 degrees Fahrenheit], the next day slightly higher than 37 [degrees], that's all," he said.
For vaccination, online registration is mandatory. Thereafter, eligible beneficiaries will be informed on their registered mobile number about the nearest vaccination facility, and the date and time of vaccination.
Currently, the country is using two 'made-in India' jabs -- Covishield and Covaxin -- to inoculate its billion-plus population and has administered 20 crore doses since launching the world's largest vaccination drive in mid-January. A third vaccine, Russian-made Sputnik V, has been approved by the government and is being used on a smaller scale at present.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address at the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday, invited the global manufacturers of vaccines to come and make vaccines in India, stressing that the country's "faith is to serve people".
The Union health ministry has directed states to identify all left-out people and ensure everyone gets their Covid jab through initiatives such as workplace vaccination, as part of the government's "Har Ghar Dastak" campaign. Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya held a review meeting on vaccination progress with Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Puducherry on Monday. In a tweet, the minister said, "Spoke about augmenting Govt's #HarGharDastak vaccine campaign. Requested help from religious leaders, NGOs & political groups to speed-up vaccination coverage." Health secretary Rajesh Bhushan has asked state officials that workplace vaccination should be organised for targeting people due for their doses.
The Congress chief appealed to the prime minister that with restrictions being imposed to stop the spread of the virus, he should put in place a minimum monthly guaranteed income scheme and transfer a sum of Rs 6,000 into every eligible citizen's account.
'At the stage where we are in today in the country, by the time mass vaccination becomes available, it would be around the middle of next year.' 'Most of those people, who got infected this year, will be next year back to level zero -- once again susceptible.'
'People don't need to take any added medication other than plain fever medication.'
In a span of 24 hours, 2,37,050 people were vaccinated across 4,049 sessions. A total of 18,167 sessions have been conducted so far. On the testing front too, India continues to register growing numbers, the ministry said.
The overall death toll stands at 5,30,723 with one death reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated.
"I appeal to all those who are eligible to take the vaccine. Together, let us make India COVID-19 free!" Modi said.
The first nationwide mock drill was held on January 2 which, the health ministry said, helped to iron out any glitches in the final execution and further refinement of the operational procedures.
There is no association between the Covid-19 vaccines used in India -- Covishield and Covaxin -- and increase in the risk of heart attacks, according to an observational study which emphasises the protective effect of the jabs.
Hari Shukla from Tyne and Wear said he feels it is his duty to receive his first of the two-dose vaccine, a moment UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed as a "huge step forward" as Tuesday was dubbed "V-Day" or Vaccine Day in the UK.
'All the vaccines that are available in most countries, right now, are all highly effective and safe.'
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