Covid-19 vaccine

India begins Covid-19 vaccination for all beneficiaries in the 12-14 age group

India begins Covid-19 vaccination for all beneficiaries in the 12-14 age group

India today began free of cost Covid-19 vaccination for all beneficiaries in the 12-14 age group at all government vaccination centres. In addition, all those above 60 years of age are being given precaution doses. The launch of the massive exercise coincided with the National Vaccination Day which is observed each year on 16 March to convey the importance of vaccination and its role in public health. In a message on the occasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that today was an important day in India’s efforts to vaccinate its citizens and urged youngsters in the 12-14 age group and…
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Johnson & Johnson applies for Emergency Use Authorization of its single-dose Covid vaccine in India

Johnson & Johnson applies for Emergency Use Authorization of its single-dose Covid vaccine in India

Johnson & Johnson has applied for the Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) of its single-dose Covid-19 vaccine, said an official statement issued by the US-based pharmaceutical company on Friday. "On August 5, 2021, Johnson & Johnson Pvt. Ltd applied for Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) of its single-dose covid-19 vaccine to the Government of India," read the statement. Johnson & Johnson claimed that its single-shot vaccine, in clinical trials, proved to be 85 per cent effective in preventing severe disease. The vaccine also showed protection against Covid-19 related hospitalisation and death, it said. "The EUA submission is based on topline efficacy and…
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PM Modi assures Covid-19 vax supply to Nepal

PM Modi assures Covid-19 vax supply to Nepal

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has informed Nepalese colleague Sher Bahadur Deuba that India will strengthen ties with the Himalayan country by supplying covid -19 vaccine. Taking to Twitter following the phone conversation, Modi said: “Spoke with Prime Minister @DeubaSherbdr to convey my congratulations and best wishes. We will work together to further enhance the wide-ranging cooperation between India and Nepal, including in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.” The Nepal Foreign Ministry said the two Prime Ministers “discussed further strengthening of bilateral relations” and Modi “assured early supply of Covid vaccines to Nepal”. Nepal is awaiting a consignment of one…
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Centre caps 20% of Covaxin supply for first dose beneficiaries, via CoWIN

Centre caps 20% of Covaxin supply for first dose beneficiaries, via CoWIN

Easing the restriction over immunisation by Bharat Biotech’s Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin, the central government has now allowed the vaccination centres to administer the vaccine’s first dose to all the age group although with a cap of 20 per cent. As per the officials, the capping of 20 per cent is in place considering the limited supply of Covaxin. “The government vaccination centres may restart administration of the first dose of Covaxin. However, considering the limited vaccine supply, to begin with, the first dose slots may be limited to up to 20% of the total session capacity,” the order read. The…
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Health Ministry joins social media platform to spread Covid vax awareness

Health Ministry joins social media platform to spread Covid vax awareness

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHWF) partnered with Indic language social media platform, ShareChat and short video app Moj to organise a webinar to spread awareness about Covid appropriate behaviour and the world’s largest vaccination drive. The webinar aimed to make influencers act as catalysts, and to educate and share reliable information with their community of followers. The webinar encouraged the social influencers to act as advocates to amplify and share accurate and credible information on Covid-19, counter vaccine hesitancy and misinformation. ShareChat and Moj’s Chief Commercial Officer Ajit Varghese said: “We are excited to work with the…
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HC warns Mumbai police: Don’t spare the ‘big fish’ in fake vaccine cases

HC warns Mumbai police: Don’t spare the ‘big fish’ in fake vaccine cases

The Bombay High Court stated on Tuesday that the Mumbai police must find the "big fish" in cases of COVID-19 vaccination programmes in the city and should not spare them. A court-appointed panel of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice G S Kulkarni also ordered the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to inform the court of any steps the civic body plans to take to test those duped by such camps for antibodies and any negative health effects caused by the fake vaccine. The court was hearing a number of public interest litigations (PILs) aimed at improving citizen access to COVID-19…
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COVID-19 vaccines do not cause infertility

COVID-19 vaccines do not cause infertility

We are soon going to have the world’s first DNA-plasmid vaccine by Zydus Cadilla which has been Made in India. The other vaccine that we can expect soon is Biological E – a protein sub-unit vaccine, informs Dr Narendra Kumar Arora, Chairman of COVID-19 Working Group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI). He further informs that the trials of these vaccines have been quite encouraging. “We are hopeful that this vaccine will be available by September. The Indian m-RNA vaccine which can be stored at temperature 2 – 8 Degree Celsius should also be available by September.…
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AstraZeneca Vaccine 92% effective against Delta variant

AstraZeneca Vaccine 92% effective against Delta variant

AstraZeneca said new data from Public Health England (PHE) demonstrated COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca, offers high levels of protection against the Delta variant. AstraZeneca vaccine is used in India as Covishield. Real-world data from PHE, demonstrated two doses of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca are 92% effective against hospitalization due to the Delta variant and showed no deaths among those vaccinated. The higher efficacy against severe disease and hospitalization is supported by recent data showing a strong T-cell response to COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca, which should correlate with high and durable protection. Mene Pangalos, Executive Vice President, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, said: “This real-world evidence shows…
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COVID-19: The Centre reports that over 2.87 crore vaccine doses are still available with states and UTs

COVID-19: The Centre reports that over 2.87 crore vaccine doses are still available with states and UTs

More than 2.87 million people The Union Health Ministry stated on Saturday that COVID-19 vaccine doses are still accessible with states and union territories, adding that over 52.26 lakh doses will be delivered to them in the next three days. So far, the Centre has delivered 28,50,99,130 vaccine doses to states and UTs through the free-of-charge channel and the direct state procurement category, according to the report. According to the government, the overall consumption, including wastage, is 25,63,28,045 doses. There are still 2,87,71,085 vaccine doses accessible with states and UTs to be administered, according to the report. "Further more than…
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Novavax shows 90.4 per cent efficacy against the novel coronavirus infection

Novavax shows 90.4 per cent efficacy against the novel coronavirus infection

India’s hopes to administer two billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines between August and December have received a boost with a new US-made vaccine to be produced in India by the Serum Institute showing high protective efficacy. The US-based vaccine maker Novavax announced that its protein-based Covid-19 vaccine has demonstrated 90.4 per cent efficacy against the novel coronavirus infection and 100 per cent efficacy against moderate and severe disease. “Today, Novavax is one step closer to addressing the critical and persistent global health need for additional Covid-19 vaccines,” Stanley Erck, chief executive officer of Novavax, said in a statement. “These results…
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