Coronavirus Vaccine

Researchers have identified specific proteins in the blood plasma of people infected with COVID-19 that may help predict which patients may need to be placed on ventilators to breathe and which are most likely to die of the virus. The researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in the US studied blood plasma samples from 332 COVID-19 patients. "Identifying harmful proteins may be helpful as we confront not only variants of the virus that causes COVID-19, but also as new viruses emerge in the future," said study principal investigator Carlos Cruchaga. "We may be able to draw blood from an individual with a COVID infection, check the levels of these key proteins and quickly determine risk for serious outcomes. We then could use that information to determine the best course of treatment," Cruchaga said. The team studied plasma samples from COVID-19 patients admitted to Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, US and compared them to plasma samples from 150 people who had not b

In view of rising cases of COVID-19 in various parts of the country, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya is learnt to have approved the inclusion of Serum Institute's Covovax on the CoWIN portal as a heterologous booster dose for adults, official sources said on Monday. Covovax is likely to be available on the portal in a few days at a price of Rs 225 per dose plus applicable GST. The move comes after a letter was written by Prakash Kumar Singh, Director, Serum Institute of India (SII) to the Union health ministry on March 27, the sources said. According to an official source, Singh had mentioned in his letter to the ministry that Covovax is a world class vaccine approved by the DCGI, WHO and USFDA and it should be included on the CoWIN portal as a heterologous booster dose for adults. Covovax can be administered to those who have already vaccinated with Covishield or Covaxin. Last month, the COVID-19 Working Group headed by Dr N K Arora had also recommended to the Health Mini

Decreasing levels of immunity in our population may trigger new Covid waves and to tackle this, India needs a strong disease surveillance along with high vaccine coverage

India logged 5,357 new coronavirus cases, while the active cases rose to 32,814, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday. The death toll has increased to 5,30,965 with 11 deaths. While three deaths were reported from Gujarat, two were from Himachal Pradesh and one each from Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh besides one reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated. The Covid case tally was recorded at 4.47 crore (4,47,56,616) The active cases now comprise 0.07 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 98.74 per cent, the ministry said. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,92,837 while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 220.66 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.

Continuing the surge in Covid cases, the total count of cases in Uttar Pradesh has gone up to 1,025.

Union minister advises states to do mock drills at all health facilities on April 10 and 11

The rise in Covid cases is indicative of the SARS-CoV-2 virus moving into an endemic state in India and behaving like other coronaviruses that cause common cold-like symptoms and can keep reinfecting, say scientists. Giving the reassurance that a monster spike on the lines of the Delta wave in the spring of 2021 is unlikely due to the endemic nature of the virus, they also cautioned that the spread could be halted by following established protocols. COVID-19 is effectively endemic in the country, and virtually all of us will have sustained an infection by now, whether we knew it or not. The virus is behaving like coronaviruses that cause common-cold-like symptoms and can keep reinfecting us, said Gautam I. Menon, dean (research) and professor, Departments of Physics and Biology at Haryana's Ashoka University. Immunologist Satyajit Rath added that the actual magnitude of the infection is unknown. Questioning the reliability of reported Covid case numbers, he told PTI, "We are likely

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday urged the Centre to provide fresh stocks of COVID vaccine vials so that administering of jabs, which is currently on hold, could be resumed. Talking to reporters here on the sidelines of a function, he also asserted that his government was "alert" in view of rising incidence of COVID cases in some parts of the country, though Bihar was not one of them. "Our testing rate is much higher than the national average, which is six lakh tests per one million people. We are conducting eight lakh tests. Bihar accounts for about one fourth of the total number of tests conducted across the country", claimed Kumar. He underscored that the current spike was noticed in those parts of the country which were the worst affected when the coronavirus had caused a global pandemic. "In Bihar cases are very few but we are alert, nonetheless. In places like hospitals wearing of masks is being reinforced. We were also carrying out vaccination till our supply drie

230 of the 296 sites are private; people can now opt for mix-and-match doses of Corbevax and iNCOVACC

People exposed to higher levels of air pollution before the pandemic had lower antibody responses to COVID-19 vaccines, according to a study. In particular, exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and black carbon was associated with about a 10 per cent decrease in IgM and IgG antibody responses in people without prior infection, the researchers said. The findings, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, provide further evidence on the adverse effects of air pollution on the immune system. "Air pollution has been linked to adverse health outcomes, including lung cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory disease, and diabetes," said Manolis Kogevinas from the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal). "Air pollutants have been shown to affect immune responses, so in this study we wished to determine whether air pollution also affects antibody responses to COVID-19 vaccines," said Kogevinas. The team analysed data from 927 particip

Air pollution can induce chronic inflammation, which has been associated with a negative effect on vaccine efficacy, the study said

Amid rising coronavirus cases, the Serum Institute of India has written a letter to the Union health ministry seeking the inclusion of its COVID-19 vaccine Covovax on the CoWIN portal as a heterologous booster dose for adults, official sources said on Monday. The letter was written by Prakash Kumar Singh, Director, Serum Institute of India (SII) on March 27, they said. Last month, COVID-19 Working Group headed by Dr N K Arora had also recommended to the health ministry inclusion of Covovax on the CoWIN portal as a heterologous booster dose for adults who have been vaccinated with two doses of either Covishield or Covaxin. The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had on January 16 approved the market authorisation for Covovax for those who have been administered two doses of either Covishield or Covaxin. Also, Covovax has been approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA). The DCGI had approved Covovax for restricted use in ...

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As Delhi witnesses a sudden spurt in Covid cases, experts have stressed that there is no need to panic over the absolute numbers and the focus should be on protecting the vulnerable population, especially those who are immunocompromised or have comorbidities. They have also advised people to remain cautious by masking up and avoiding public gatherings. Delhi recorded 416 fresh Covid cases on Saturday, the highest in over seven months, with a positivity rate of 14.37 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department. While the government did not issue a bulletin on Friday, the numbers on Thursday stood at 295 while the positivity rate was at 12.48 per cent. Dr Chandrakant Lahariya, an epidemiologist and public health specialist, told PTI, "There is a clear dissociation between infection and disease. It means that people are testing positive but they do not have symptoms. There is increased testing for flu so there is targeted testing and hence an increase in ...

'Every crack will be used by virus to spread', says T Jacob John, a former professor of Vellore's Christian Medical College

India continues to report a spike, but experts are divided on whether the surge is a wave yet or a ripple

AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine (manufactured and administered in India as Covishield) raised the risk of heart problem, and death by 3.5 times in young women in the first three months following

Older people and higher-risk groups - including those with underlying conditions - should get Covid boosters between six and 12 months after their last injections

The guidance newly considers the cost-effectiveness of Covid-19 vaccination for those at lower risk like healthy children and adolescents compared to other health interventions

India has logged 1,573 new coronavirus cases, while the active cases have increased to 10,981, according to Union health ministry data updated on Tuesday. The death toll has increased to 5,30,841 with four deaths reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated. The daily positivity rate has been recorded at 1.30 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 1.47 per cent. The total tally of Covid cases was recorded at 4.47 crore (4,47,07, 525), the ministry said. The active cases now comprise 0.02 per cent of the total infections, while the national Covid recovery rate has been recorded at 98.79 per cent, according to its website. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has increased to 4,41,65,703, the data stated. The case fatality rate has been recorded at 1.19 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 220.65 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered so far under the nationwide vaccination drive.