Page 3 - Coronavirus Vaccine

Kids, teens can take Moderna's Omicron-targeting bivalent booster in Canada

Health Canada announced that it has authorized the use of Moderna's Spikevax bivalent Covid-19 booster vaccine for children and adolescents aged six to 17 years of age targeting the Omicron variant

India introduces new Covid-19 rules for travellers from six countries

However, random testing of 2 per cent of all travellers landing in India will continue, the health ministry has said

India coronavirus update: Active Covid cases in country rise to 1,843

India recorded 124 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases increased to 1,843, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday. The death toll stands at 5,30,750, the data updated at 8 am stated. The Covid case tally was recorded at 4.46 crore (4,46,84,118). The daily positivity was recorded at 0.10 per cent while the weekly positivity was pegged at 0.09 per cent. The active cases now comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has increased to 98.81 per cent, the ministry said. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 4,41,51,525, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.19 per cent. According to the ministry's website 220.62 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far under the nationwide vaccination drive. India's COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 2020, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on Septembe

NTAGI panel takes up inclusion of COVOVAX as heterologous booster dose

The COVID-19 Working Group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) discussed the inclusion of Covovax vaccine as a heterologous booster dose for adults on the CoWin portal to boost the uptake of precaution doses, official sources said on Saturday. A final decision on its inclusion will be taken by the NTAGI's Standing Technical Sub-Committee (STSC) which is likely to meet by the end of this month. The COVID-19 Working Group discussed the matter on Wednesday. According to an official source, Prakash Kumar Singh, Director of Government and Regulatory Affairs at the Serum Institute of India (SII), had written to the Health Ministry last month seeking inclusion of Covovax on the CoWIN portal. The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) on January 16 approved market authorisation to Covovax as a heterologous booster dose for adults who have been administered two doses of Covishield or Covaxin. The DCGI's approval was based on recommendations by the Subject Expe

Covid vaccines do not increase risk of adverse events, claims Study

COVID-19 vaccines did not cause an increased risk of adverse events such as heart attack, stroke, cardiac arrest, myocarditis, pericarditis, and deep vein thrombosis, according to a study. The research, published in the journal Vaccines, monitored the entire population of the Italian province of Pescara for 18 months, from January 2021 to July 2022. The team led by researchers from the University of Bologna in Italy collected inhabitants' health data and analysed the frequency of a number of serious diseases such as cardiovascular disease, pulmonary embolism and thrombosis. Pulmonary embolism is a blood clot that blocks and stops blood flow to an artery in the lung while thrombosis occurs when blood clots block veins or arteries. The study showed that none of the diseases examined were found to be more frequent among the vaccinated than among the non-vaccinated. "The results obtained clearly show that there was no increased risk of serious diseases among the vaccinated," said ...

300k doses of intranasal Covid vaccine sent to hospitals: Krishna Ella

Bharat Biotech dispatched three lakh doses of its intranasal COVID-19 vaccine to some hospitals two days ago, the company's executive chairman Krishna Ella said on Sunday. He was speaking on the sidelines of an event here at which a bilateral agreement was signed between the University of Wisconsin (UW)-Madison Global Health Institute (GHI) and the Ella Foundation for the establishment of the first-ever UW-Madison One Health Centre in Bengaluru. iNCOVACC, the world's first intranasal COVID-19 vaccine, was launched on January 26. The vaccine is now available on CoWIN and priced at Rs 800 for private markets and Rs 325 for the government of India and state governments. "We dispatched three lakh doses of the world's first intranasal COVID-19 vaccine to some hospitals two days ago," Ella said. On whether Bharat Biotech is looking at exporting the vaccine, he said some countries and international agencies are approaching the company for the intra-nasal vaccine. iNCOVACC is also the wor

India ahead of America's Silicon Valley in the field of IT: Anurag Thakur

India is ahead of America's Silicon Valley in the field of IT, exemplified among other things by the fact the Covid vaccination certificate here is available digitally while the rest of the countries still have it on paper, Union minister Anurag Thakur has said. The country today is moving towards becoming a digital economy with "chaiwala to fadiwala (roadside vendors)" all doing their businesses with the help of Internet, he said. Digital transactions worth Rs 12.62 lakh crore have been recorded in the country since the BJP came to power in 2014, he said during a meeting of party functionaries at Una last night, according to a release issued on Sunday. Thakur said nine years ago when the Congress government was in power at the Center, inflation was 12 percent and "corruption" was rampant. Today when countries like the United States are struggling with an inflation rate of 8.3 percent, and India's inflation rate is 5.7 percent, he said. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narend

India logs 128 fresh Covid infections, active cases rise to 1,792

India saw a single-day rise of 128 coronavirus infections, while the active cases have increased to 1,792, according to Union health ministry data updated on Saturday. The death toll has increased to 5,30,745 with four deaths reconciled by Kerala, the data updated at 8 am stated. The total tally of Covid cases is 4.46 crore (4,46,83,250). The daily positivity rate has been recorded at 0.09 per cent and the weekly positivity rate at 0.07 per cent, it stated. The active cases comprise 0.01 per cent of the total infections and the national Covid recovery rate has increased to 98.81 per cent, according to the health ministry's website. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has increased to 4,41,50,713, while the case fatality rate has been recorded at 1.19 per cent, it stated. According to the ministry's website, 220.56 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far.

California won't require COVID vaccine to attend schools

Children in California won't have to get the coronavirus vaccine to attend schools, state public health officials confirmed on Friday, ending one of the last major restrictions of the pandemic in the nation's most populous state. Gov. Gavin Newsom first announced the policy in 2021, saying it would eventually apply to all of California's 6.7 million public and private schoolchildren. But since then, the crisis first caused by a mysterious virus in late 2019 has mostly receded from public consciousness. COVID-19 is still widespread, but the availability of multiple vaccines has lessened the viruses' effects for many offering relief to what had been an overwhelmed public health system. Nearly all of the pandemic restrictions put in place by Newsom have been lifted, and he won't be able to issue any new ones after February 28 when the state's coronavirus emergency declaration officially ends. One of the last remaining questions was what would happen to the state's vaccine mandate for

Demand for affordable Indian generic Covid vaccines skyrocket in China

WHO issued a detailed document stating that the Indian vaccine against all variant-related Covid-19 diseases was 71% effective, with an efficacy of 90% against Kappa and 65% against Delta

Higher antibodies in those vaccinated with precaution dose: Mumbai survey

The second phase of the sixth sero survey in Mumbai has shown that persons who have received precaution doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have significantly higher antibodies than those who took two doses of the vaccine, a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation official said on Friday. The second phase was conducted in the months of September and October last year and included a follow-up of those who had taken part in the first phase, a BMC release said. "About 88 per cent, or 2,733 participants in phase-I survey, took part in the second phase. This comprised 50 per cent front line workers and 50 per cent healthcare workers. Out of the 2, 733 participants, 59 per cent were aged 25 to 45 years, while 41 per cent were in the 45-65 segment. Of the total, 57 per cent were males and 43 per cent were females," it said. "Only 0.7 per cent participants had not received any dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 1.3 per cent had taken a single dose, 55 per cent participants had taken both the doses an

Covid-19 vaccination: India may have won a major battle, says Eco Survey

97% of the country's eligible beneficiaries have been given at least one dose, while 90% have got two doses

Prez Biden to end Covid-19 twin national emergencies in US on May 11

President Joe Biden informed Congress on Monday that he will end the twin national emergencies for addressing COVID-19 on May 11, as most of the world has returned closer to normalcy nearly three years after they were first declared. The move to end the national emergency and public health emergency declarations would formally restructure the federal coronavirus response to treat the virus as an endemic threat to public health that can be managed through agencies' normal authorities. It comes as lawmakers have already ended elements of the emergencies that kept millions of Americans insured during the pandemic. Combined with the drawdown of most federal COVID-19 relief money, it would also shift the development of vaccines and treatments away from the direct management of the federal government. Biden's announcement comes in a statement opposing resolutions being brought to the floor this week by House Republicans to bring the emergency to an immediate end. House Republicans are als

Third Covid vaccine booster linked with 90% reduction in deaths : Study

A third booster dose of a COVID-19 vaccine was associated with a 90 per cent reduction in death in people with multiple health conditions compared to two doses, according to a study conducted in Hong Kong. The research, published in Canadian Medical Association Journal, compared data from people aged 18 years or older with two or more chronic conditions, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and chronic kidney disease, who received a third dose between November 2021 and March 2022, compared to people who received only 2 doses. "We found a substantially reduced risk of COVID-19related death in adults with multimorbidity who received a homologous booster dose of BNT162b2, an mRNA vaccine, or CoronaVac, an inactivated whole-virus vaccine," said Esther Chan from The University of Hong Kong. "These results support the effectiveness of booster doses of vaccines of two different technological platforms in lowering mortality among those with multimorbidity amid the Omicron epidemic," Chan .

How future with lower Covid death rate seems like a worthy investment

Unfortunately, turning nasal vaccines into reality has a long way to go. The same is true for any newer approach to combatting Covid

China grants conditional approval for two homegrown Covid-19 drugs

The applications for the innovative drugs XIANNUOXIN and VV116 were submitted by Simcere and a subsidiary of Shanghai Junshi Biosciences, respectively

Long Covid cripples millions, best protection is vaccination, say experts

At least 65 million people are thought to have long Covid, according to a latest review of 200 Covid-19 studies

Maharashtra records 17 new Covid cases in a day; active tally at 80

Maharashtra on Saturday recorded 17 new coronavirus cases that raised the tally of infections to 81,37,120, an official from the state health department said. The death toll remained unchanged at 1,48,421, while the count of recoveries reached 79,88,619 after 18 patients recovered in the last 24 hours, the official said. With this, the state is left with 80 active cases, of which Pune accounts for the highest number of 18 cases, followed by Mumbai with 14 and Thane 10, he said. As many as 8,692 swab samples were tested in the last 24 hours, taking the number of tests conducted across the state to 8,62,29,962, the official said. According to a health department report, Mumbai circle reported the highest seven new cases, followed by four cases in Pune, three in Akola, and one case each in Nashik, Latur and Kolhapur. The recovery rate in the state stands at 98.18 per cent, while the fatality rate is 1.82 per cent, it said. As many as 6,13,962 passengers arrived at Mumbai, Pune and N

iNCOVACC: All you need to know about world's first intranasal Covid vaccine

The vaccine been approved for use as a primary as well as a heterologous (mix-and-match) booster dose in India

Bharat Biotech rolls out India's first intra-nasal Covid vaccine iNCOVACC

Priced at Rs 800/dose for private players, Rs 325 for bulk procurement by govts