Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan reviewed the process in GTB Hospital in Delhi.Coronavirus India Highlights: The World Health Organisation on Sunday welcomed India’s decision giving emergency use authorisation to COVID-19 vaccines, saying it will help “intensify” and “strengthen” its fight against the ongoing pandemic. “WHO welcomes the first emergency use authorization given to COVID-19 vaccine in the WHO South-East Asia Region. This decision taken today by India will help intensify and strengthen the fight against COVID-19 pandemic in the Region,” said Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, the regional director, WHO South-East Asia Region.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sunday called DCGI’s emergency approval for 2 vaccines in India a “decisive turning point” for the country’s vaccine development and expressed gratitude to all frontline workers for their “outstanding” work in fighting against the virus. “It would make every Indian proud that the two vaccines that have been given emergency use approval are made in India! This shows the eagerness of our scientific community to fulfill the dream of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat, at the root of which is care and compassion,” Modi said on Twitter.
The DCGI in its presser on Sunday gave nod to the “emergency restricted” approval for two vaccine candidates in India, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin and Oxford-Astrazeneca’s Covishield. The drug controller said that it is paying close attention to the increasing cases of UK’s Covid-19 new strain in the country and was prioritising its threat while conducting clinical trials.
India recorded 18,177 new Covid cases in the 24 hours ending 8 am Sunday, taking the total number of infections to over 1.03 crore. Active cases further dropped to 2.47 lakh, while recoveries continued to rise and stand at over 99.27 lakh. A total of 217 deaths were reported on Saturday, the toll currently stands at over 1.49 lakh. Covid-19 testing on the first two days of the new year have been below one million. Only three states reported more than 1,000 cases on Saturday, but Kerala is still reporting over 5,000 cases. With 5,327 new cases on Saturday, Kerala has so far recorded over 7.71 infections.
A dry run to check the best way to administer Covid-19 vaccine and plug loopholes in logistics and training was held across all states on Saturday. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan reviewed the process in GTB Hospital in Delhi and said the government would not compromise on any protocol before approving a vaccine for the novel coronavirus. He appealed to people not to be misguided by rumours regarding the safety and efficacy of vaccines.
With some Congress leaders raising concerns over the grant of approval to Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan asserted on Sunday that Covaxin is more likely to work against newer variants of the virus, including the UK variant, and asked politicians not to "discredit well laid out science-backed protocols" followed for approving the jab.
Some Congress leaders, including Anand Sharma, Shashi Tharoor and Jairam Ramesh, on Sunday raised serious concerns over the grant of approval to Covaxin for restricted use, saying it is "premature" and can prove dangerous.
Responding to them, Vardhan said it is "disgraceful for anyone to politicise such a critical issue." Tagging Tharoor, Ramesh and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yavad, the health minister said in a tweet, "...don't try to discredit well laid out science-backed protocols followed for approving #COVID19vaccines. Wake up & realise you are only discrediting yourselves!"
Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Sunday welcomed the approval given for emergency use of two COVID-19 vaccines, and asserted that the city government is all set for the vaccination roll-out as soon as any of them arrive. Interacting with reporters, he said, in the first phase, about three lakh healthcare workers and nearly six lakh frontline workers, totalling about nine lakh, will get the vaccine.
"Drug Controller General of India has approved emergency use of two vaccines. Many congratulations to scientists and researchers who worked day and night to make this possible," Jain said.
"We are all ready with our preparations, from storage to logistics, and yesterday, a dry run was conducted at three sites to assess the preparedness for the vaccination roll-out. Vaccination can begin, soon as the vaccine arrives in Delhi, which we expect in few days," he said. (PTI)
Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) director Balram Bhargava said that the Covaxin vaccine has the potential to target the new strain. 'New virus variant which is now more than 60% infective & creating havoc in the UK is worrisome. There are 29 patients in India with the same variant for which we should be cautious. We have been able to isolate the new virus very soon,' said Dr. Balram Bhargava on Sunday. He was also quoted as saying by ANI that the National Institute of Virology (NIV) scientists have successfully isolated the new virus strain which will be tested against different vaccines. 'We hope potentially Bharat Biotech vaccine will have some advantages over other vaccines on this new strain because it is a whole virus,' he added.
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has approved conducting phase III trials of the country's first DNA vaccine candidate against COVID-19 being developed by Zydus Cadila, the Department of Biotechnology said on Sunday. The vaccine candidate has been supported by the National Biopharma Mission (NBM) under the aegis of Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a PSU under the DBT.
"The nation's first indigenously developed DNA vaccine candidate against COVID-19, ZyCoV-D, by M/s Zydus Cadila, has been approved by Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), for conduct of the Phase III clinical trials," the DBT said. Zydus Cadila completed Phase-I/II clinical trials of this DNA vaccine candidate in more than 1,000 participants and "interim data indicated that the vaccine is safe and immunogenic when three doses were administered intradermally", the DBT said. (PTI)
In response to rising COVID-19 numbers, Zimbabwe has reintroduced a night curfew, banned public gatherings, and indefinitely suspended the opening of schools. "We are being overwhelmed and overrun," Information Minister Nick Mangwana warned, saying the country's hospitals are rapidly reaching capacity with COVID-19 patients. Zimbabwe recorded 1,342 cases and 29 deaths in the past week, the highest number recorded so far," Vice President Constantino Chiwenga said, announcing the strict measures.
Zimbabwe's 7-day rolling average of daily new cases has risen over the past two weeks from 0.90 new cases per 100,000 people on December 19 to 1.47 new cases per 100,000 people on January 2. Funerals are now limited to 30 people while other gatherings such as weddings and church services are banned for 30 days. Restaurants and beer taverns have also been closed. The government has postponed indefinitely the opening of schools for a new term that was supposed to start on Monday, January 4.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday warned that the current tiered system of lockdown to arrest the spread of COVID-19 may have to be toughened further as the UK grapples with the new strain of the coronavirus. As teachers' unions have been calling for a countrywide closure of all schools for a few weeks due to the rapid spread of the new variation, Johnson insisted that parents should send their children to school from Monday in the areas where they remain open as the threat to young kids from the deadly virus is very small.
However, he admitted that even stricter restrictions for the wider public may be on their way in the coming weeks as the coronavirus cases in the country jumped by 57,725 this weekend, taking the death toll close to 75,000. "Alas, restrictions may be about to get tougher," Johnson told the BBC, when asked about the lockdown.
Senior Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor criticised the approval for Covaxin and said it was premature and dangerous. "The Covaxin has not yet had Phase 3 trials. Approval was premature and could be dangerous. @drharshvardhanshould please clarify. Its use should be avoided till full trials are over. India can start with the AstraZeneca vaccine in the meantime," Tharoor tweeted.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said that approval for the emergency use of two "made in India" vaccines will give a positive direction to the country's fight against coronavirus. Congratulating the countrymen, Kejriwal saluted the scientists and doctors for the achievement.
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on Sunday approved Oxford COVID-19 vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute, and indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use in the country. "Congratulations to all the countrymen. Approval by DCGI to emergency use of two made in India vaccines will give a positive direction to the country's fight against corona. Salute to the scientists and doctors whose hard work helped us reach here," Kejriwal tweeted in Hindi.
The World Health Organisation on Sunday welcomed India's decision giving emergency use authorisation to COVID-19 vaccines, saying it will help "intensify" and "strengthen" its fight against the ongoing pandemic. India's drugs regulator has approved Oxford COVID-19 vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute, and indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use in the country. It paves the way for the roll out of at least two vaccines in the country in the coming days.
"WHO welcomes the first emergency use authorization given to COVID-19 vaccine in the WHO South-East Asia Region. This decision taken today by India will help intensify and strengthen the fight against COVID-19 pandemic in the Region," said Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, the regional director, WHO South-East Asia Region.
According to Khetrapal, the use of vaccine in "prioritised population" as well as implementation of other public health measures will be important in reducing the impact of the pandemic.
"The use of vaccine in prioritised populations, along with continued implementation of other public health measures and community participation will be important in reducing the impact of COVID-19," she added. (PTI)
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday said the COVID-19 vaccination programme is a "sensitive process", and the government should not to treat it as "cosmetic" event as it is matter of lives of people. Yadav had on Saturday termed the anti-Covid vaccine to be rolled out in the country as a "vaccine of the BJP" and said he would not take the shot, prompting a sharp reaction not only from the ruling party but also from NC vice-president Omar Abdullah.
The fresh remarks by the SP chief come on a day when India's drugs regulator approved Oxford COVID-19 vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute, and indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use in the country, paving the way for a massive inoculation drive. (PTI)
A South Korean health official said on Sunday that a third wave of the novel coronavirus is being contained, as it reported the lowest number of new infections in nearly four weeks with the help of tougher restrictions during the New Year holiday season.
New cases for Saturday numbered 657, much lower than 824 the day before, but bringing the country's total cases to 63,244 with 962 deaths, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
"The latest third wave of coronavirus spread is being contained as a result of expanded COVID-19 testing (recently) and strengthened distancing measures," Sohn Young-rae, a senior health official, told a briefing.
He said the worst for the country seems to be passing, though added it is premature to say the situation has definitely shifted to a decline, given the decreased testing during the New Year holiday and weekends.
Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Sunday congratulated the scientists associated with the coronavirus vaccine and urged the Centre to make it available for the poor free of cost.
In a tweet in Hindi, Mayawati said, "The 'swadeshi' anti-Covid vaccine is welcome and congratulations to the scientists. A request to the Central government is that along with all the health workers, if the extremely poor people get the vaccine free of cost, then it will be appropriate."
Thailand's government held off from ordering new nationwide business shutdowns on Sunday amid a new wave of coronavirus cases but empowered some provincial governors to set their own restrictions and pleaded with the public not to travel. Thailand, which had largely controlled the virus by mid-2020, saw a second wave of outbreaks beginning in December. On Sunday, it confirmed 315 new coronavirus cases, the majority of which are from local transmission, bringing its total to 7,694 cases and 64 deaths since its first case last January. The country also reported its first known case of a more contagious variant of the coronavirus called B.1.1.7 on Sunday, Yong Poovorawan, a senior virologist from Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, said in a post on his official Facebook page.
Senior Congress leader Anand Sharma on Sunday raised concerns over India's drugs regulator granting permission for restricted use of Bharat Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine and asked the government to explain why mandatory protocols and verification of data has been dispensed with. India's drugs regulator DCGI on Sunday approved Oxford's COVID-19 vaccine Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for restricted emergency use. Sharma, who heads the Parliamentary panel on Home Affairs which dealt with the issue at length, said the issue of granting authorisation to the vaccine use needs to be taken carefully as no country has dispensed with the mandatory phase 3 trials and verification of data. As per submissions made before the expert panel, phase 3 trials have not been completed and therefore, the data on safety and efficacy has not been reviewed, which is a mandatory requirement, he said.
Soon after the DCGI nod, Adar Poonawalla, Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO, tweeted, “Happy new year, everyone! All the risks @SerumInstIndia took with stockpiling the vaccine, have finally paid off. COVISHIELD, India’s first COVID-19 vaccine is approved, safe, effective and ready to roll-out in the coming weeks.”
The Drugs Controller General of India in its presser stated that the interim data suggested that the vaccines are safe to use. A few pointers from today's presser.
After the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) on Sunday approved the emergency use of both Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin for immunisation against Covid-19 in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that every Indian is proud that both the shots are “made in India.” Stating that the DGCI approval shows the “eagerness of our scientific community to fulfil the dream of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat,” PM Modi tweeted, “It would make every Indian proud that the two vaccines that have been given emergency use approval are made in India! This shows the eagerness of our scientific community to fulfil the dream of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat, at the root of which is care and compassion.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called DCGI’s emergency approval for 2 vaccines in India a “decisive turning point” in the country’s fight against the virus and expressed gratitude for all frontline workers in “adverse circumstances.”It would make every Indian proud that the two vaccines that have been given emergency use approval are made in India! This shows the eagerness of our scientific community to fulfil the dream of an Aatmanirbhar Bharat, at the root of which is care and compassion,” Modi said on Twitter.
The DCGI in its presser on Sunday gave nod to the “emergency restricted” approval for two vaccine candidates in India, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin and Oxford-Astrazeneca’s Covishield. The drug controller said that it is paying close attention to the increasing cases of UK’s Covid-19 new strain in the country and was prioritising its threat while conducting clinical trails.
The DCGI on Sunday said that Bharat Biotech's ongoing clinical trial will continue across the nation and the threat of the UK's new strain is being prioritised while doing so. The firm is set to conduct its phase 3 trials in another 26,000 patients across the country.
The Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) is expected to make some big announcement on Covid-19 vaccination in India during a press conference scheduled on Sunday, 11 am. Speculations are on that the announcement by the drug controller watchdog may include approval of the emergency use of two vaccines –– Oxford-AstraZeneca Covishield and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin–– after the expert panel of Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) recommended them for emergency use.
On January 1, Covishield was recommended for emergency use whereas Covaxin was recommended for restricted use on January 2. Now. a final approval by DCGI on the use of both vaccines is awaited.
A diminished sense of smell, called anosmia, has emerged as one of the telltale symptoms of COVID-19. It is the first symptom for some patients, and sometimes the only one. Often accompanied by an inability to taste, anosmia occurs abruptly and dramatically in these patients, almost as if a switch had been flipped.
Most regain their senses of smell and taste after they recover, usually within weeks. But in a minority of patients, the loss persists, and doctors cannot say when or if the senses will return.
Scientists know little about how the virus causes persistent anosmia or how to cure it. But cases are piling up as the coronavirus sweeps across the world, and some experts fear that the pandemic may leave huge numbers of people with a permanent loss of smell and taste.(Read more here)
India recorded 18,177 new Covid cases in the 24 hours ending 8 am Sunday, taking the total number of infections to over 1.03 crore. Active cases further dropped to 2.47 lakh, while recoveries continued to rise and stand at over 99.27 lakh. A total of 217 deaths were reported on Saturday, the toll currently stands at over 1.49 lakh.
An expert panel under India’s top drug regulator on Saturday recommended restricted emergency approval for Covaxin, Bharat Biotech’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate that is currently under testing in the country.
The expert panel has now recommended restricted clearance for two vaccine candidates in as many days — on Friday, it recommended similar approval for Covishield, the variant of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine that is being manufactured under licence in India by Pune-based Serum Institute of India.The recommendations in favour of Covishield and Covaxin pave the way for Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) Dr V G Somani to clear the two candidates for use in the country’s imminent mass vaccination programme.
The DCGI is scheduled to make a statement to the media on the Covid-19 vaccine at 11 am on Sunday.(With Prabha Raghavan)
India has successfully cultured the new coronavirus strain, which originated in the UK, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said on Saturday.
In a tweet, the ICMR claimed that no country has yet reported successful isolation and culture of the UK-variant of SARS-CoV-2.
Culture is the process by which cells are grown under controlled conditions, generally outside their natural environment.
Cricket Australia confirmed on Saturday that five India players, Test vice-captain Rohit Sharma included, were placed in isolation after they committed a possible breach in biosecurity protocols by eating at a Melbourne restaurant earlier this week.
Australia and India are in the middle of a four-match Test series with both sides currently staying in Melbourne before travelling to Sydney for the third Test from January 7.
Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shaw, and Navdeep Saini were purportedly seen eating at an indoor restaurant in Melbourne in a video posted on social media. The fan, who was apparently seated close to them, had tweeted about getting a hug from Pant but later retracted the claim after it raised serious questions on a breach of protocol.
COVID-19 vaccines do not belong to any political party, but humanity, National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said on Saturday, hours after Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav termed coronavirus vaccines to be rolled out in the country as “vaccine of the BJP”.
Taking to Twitter, the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said, “I don’t know about anyone else but when my turn comes I’ll happily roll up my sleeve & get a COVID vaccine.”
Rajasthan government Saturday imposed night curfew from 8 pm to 6 am in 13 districts in the state. Curfew has been imposed within the urban limits of district headquarter towns in 13 districts - Kota, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Udaipur, Ajmer, Alwar, Bhilwara, Nagore, Pali, Tonk, Sikar & Ganganagar, news agency ANI said.
Three persons, who returned from the United Kingdom (UK) to Karnataka recently, have been found to be infected with the mutated strain of coronavirus, state Health and Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar said Saturday. Karnataka now has a total of ten patients infected with the new Covid-19 strain.
“All of them are being treated and isolated in Government hospitals. The infection is not severe in any of them,” Sudhakar said.
To ensure that the Pune administration is ready to undertake a massive Covid-19 vaccination programme in the near future, a dry run of the process was held at three health centres in Pune on Saturday.
A dry run — the process of calling the vaccine receiver and going through the entire process until the patient’s discharge from the vaccination centre — was held at three sites (health centres) in the district, Sub-District Hospital in Aundh, the primary health centre in Maan near Hinjewadi, and the Jijamata Hospital in Pimpri-Chinchwad.
An expert panel of India’s central drug authority on Saturday recommended granting permission for restricted emergency use of the indigenously developed COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin with certain conditions, a day after giving similar direction for the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine, sources said.
Covaxin has been indigenously developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
The Gujarat government will try to bear the cost of coronavirus vaccination "as far as possible" so that people get it free, Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel said on Saturday, PTI reported.
Patel, who holds the Health portfolio, said the state is fully prepared to administer vaccination to the priority groups as soon as doses are received from the Centre.
"We have been discussing this (free vaccination) with the chief Minister from time to time that as far as possible, we shall not let the citizens bear the cost of vaccination," he told reporters in Ahmedabad.
As many as 85 people, including staff members of ITC Grand Chola in Guindy near Chennai, have tested positive for Covid-19 in the past fortnight. “One staff member tested positive on December 15. A total of 609 samples have been collected till now and 85 of that found to be positive. The Chennai Corporation has advised saturation testing of all the residents of the hotel,” State Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan said on Saturday.
The Greater Chennai Corporation officials confirmed that they will conduct saturation testing in all the luxury hotels. The hotels across the city have been instructed to strictly follow the SOPs issued by the government.
This is the second such cluster in the city after IIT Madras where around 200 students had tested positive for Covid-19 last December.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued the standard operating procedure for epidemiological surveillance and response to the new variant of the novel coronavirus in the context of regulated resumption of flights from the UK to India, January 8 onward.
The Civil Aviation Ministry announced Friday that the flights from the UK, which have been suspended since December 22, will resume on January 8 in a staggered manner.
Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan Saturday said vaccines would be administered free of cost to priority groups in the first phase on India’s inoculation drive. This includes one crore healthcare workers and two crore frontline workers. Vardhan said the details of the second phase, in July, which will include vaccines for 27 crore more beneficiaries, is being worked out.
He also said the government would not compromise on any protocol before approving a vaccine for the novel coronavirus. He appealed to people not to be misguided by rumours regarding the safety and efficacy of vaccines.
The dry run for COVID-19 vaccination in Karnataka was held in Kalaburagi, Shivamogga, Mysuru, Belagavi, and Bengaluru. The mock drill was conducted for two hours from 9 am. According to the health department, 25 beneficiaries, including designated health staff at each of the identified primary health centres(PHC), taluk and district hospitals, participated.
Four people who recently returned to Gujarat from the United Kingdom have tested positive for the new strain of coronavirus, a top state health department official said on Saturday.
The official said results of the 15 samples that had tested positive for coronavirus on arrival in Ahmedabad from the UK are currently pending with the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune.
"All the passengers who had reached Ahmedabad from the UK were screened, and the samples of those who had tested positive for coronavirus were sent to the NIV. We have received intimation that the UK strain of coronavirus has been detected in four such cases," Principal Secretary (Health), Jayanti Ravi told reporters.
All the four patients are in isolation at Ahmedabad's SVP Hospital.
A 48-hour lockdown began in Pithoragarh town in Uttarakhand from 7 am on Saturday to contain the spread of Covid-19, PTI reported.
All offices and business establishments in the town will remain closed for 48 hours, subdivisional magistrate Tushar Saini said. Medical shops will remain open as usual and vegetable shops can operate only till 10 am, he said.
The district administration decided to impose the restrictions after Covid-19 cases recorded a rise in the town and some other parts of the district, officials said.
Speaking at Delhi’s vaccination dry run at Maternity Mother and Child Welfare Centre (MCW), Daryaganj, Health Minister Satyendar Jain said that the Delhi government is prepared to vaccinate 1 lakh city residents everyday, once the vaccination process begins.
A dry run was held at three locations on Saturday morning; a private hospital, a government hospital and at the MCW. As many as 25 beneficiaries were present at each location, where the run was held to check the efficiency of the process.
In anticipation of a vaccine for the novel coronavirus that is just one step away from being approved by India’s top drug regulator, select hospitals across the country conducted an inoculation dry run Saturday. The nationwide rehearsal was to understand the best way to administer the vaccine and plug loopholes in logistics and training. India, which has more than one crore three lakh cases of the infection, will conduct the largest vaccination drive in the world.
The first dry run was held in four states — Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, and Assam — earlier this week. Here’s a look at how the nationwide exercise went.
Dry run for COVID-19 vaccination administration underway at Venkateshwar Hospital in Delhi.
As part of the national campaign, the Tamil Nadu government Saturday began the process of conducting a dry run for the Covid-19 vaccination in Chennai, Nilgris, Tirunelveli, Poonamalle and Coimbatore. State Health Secretary Dr Radhakrishnan told reporters that the process is being conducted with 25 healthcare workers and no vaccine is administered. State Health Minister C Vijayabaskar Friday said the government needs to administer the vaccine process carefully and hence, a dry run is necessary for proper planning.
Addressing the reporters at the Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital (RGGH) in Chennai, Radhakrishnan said the purpose of the dry run is to check the various steps of the vaccination process including the efficiency of the CoWIN app, internet accessibility, and the management of any possible adverse events.
He added that the list of beneficiaries for the dry run were not taken randomly and they are part of the priority list of the healthcare workers the state identified to provide the vaccination.
"The vaccination site will be similar to an election booth. There will be a minimum of five health department officials, a chief medical officer and other health care workers. The plan is to vaccinate 25 persons in two hours. The entire process will be under the supervision of the director of public health, following the guidelines issued by the centre and the World Health Organization (WHO). Vaccinator 1 will allow the beneficiary to enter the vaccination site only if his name is on the list provided to them by the state government. The second vaccinator will verify whether the person’s identity matches the information provided on the CoWIN app. And then, they will be accompanied by another vaccinator to the vaccine room. Once the recipient is been provided the vaccine, he will receive an SMS confirming that he has received the vaccine as well as an update about the second dose. The person will then be kept in the observation room for some time to check if he experiences any difficulties,” he added. - Janardhan Koushik reports from Chennai
Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan Saturday said the government would not compromise on any protocol before approving a vaccine for the novel coronavirus. He appealed to people not to be misguided by rumours regarding the safety and efficacy of vaccines. Read more here
Dry run of Covid vaccine at Duttabad Covid vaccination booth. Dry run conducted at three places in West Bengal –– Amdanga, Madhyamgram and Duttabad –– all in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. (Express photo by Partha Paul)
Vaccine hesitancy was an issue even when we started polio immunisation drive but we must remember its success. I appeal to the people not to be misguided by rumours regarding safety and efficacy of Covid vaccine. We will not compromise on any protocol before approving a vaccine.
Dry run of Covid-19 vaccination in progress at GMSH, Chandigarh
Dry run for Covid-19 vaccine starts in Chhattisgarh
The second phase trial run of the vaccine is being held in four districts –– Trivandrum, Idukki, Palakkad and Wayanad –– in Kerala.
Health minister KK Shailaja after overseeing the trial run said, "Covishield is a safe vaccine, experts have indicated. During its trial run, there have been no major health concerns or side effects. No one should have any concerns on taking the vaccine. We have prepared a priority list on the basis of ICMR guidelines of people who will get the vaccine first."
Ambulances waited hours for openings to offload coronavirus patients. Overflow patients were moved to hospital hallways and gift shops, even a cafeteria. Refrigerated trucks were on standby, ready to store the dead. For months, California did many of the right things to avoid a catastrophic surge from the pandemic. But by the time Gov. Gavin Newsom said on Dec. 15 that 5,000 body bags were being distributed, it was clear that the nation's most populous state had entered a new phase of the COVID-19 crisis. --AP
Mock drill on Covid-19 vaccine administration in full swing at District Hospital, Thoubal, Manipur.
Tasks to be carried out for vaccine dry run.
"I appeal to people not to pay heed to rumours. Ensuring safety & efficacy of vaccine is our priority. Different kinds of rumours were spread during polio immunisation but people took the vaccine & India is now polio-free," Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said while talking to media on COVID-19 vaccine.
Dry run for the Covid-19 vaccination begins in Tamil Nadu.
A dry run to check the best way to administer Covid-19 vaccine and plug loopholes in logistics and training was held across all states on Saturday. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan reviewed the process in GTB Hospital in Delhi. As many as 19,079 new Covid cases were recorded on the first day of the new year, taking the total number of infections recorded so far to over 1 crore and 3 lakh. Out of these, 2.5 lakh are active cases. A total of 224 deaths were reported on Friday, the lowest since June 2 last year.
In his first speech in the new year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the Covid-19 crisis had compelled those who did not understand the importance of migrant labourers to do so.
He was speaking at the inauguration of six Light House Projects under the Global Housing Technology Challenge with Chief Ministers of UP, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh present.
Speaking about the Affordable Rental Housing Complexes scheme, he said, “The goal of this programme are those migrant colleagues who come from one state to another, or come from villages to cities. Before Corona we had seen that in some places, some inappropriate things were said to people coming from other states. They were insulted. But during Corona, labourers went back to their own homes, then the rest found out that without them living is very difficult,” he said.
A dry run to assess preparedness to roll out the COVID-19 vaccination drive will be conducted in seven districts in Chhattisgarh on Saturday, an official said.
The dry run will be conducted in three centres in each of the seven districts, namely Raipur, Surguja, Bilaspur, Rajnandgaon, Durg, Bastar and Gaurela-Pendra-Marwahi (GPM), state Mission Director of National Health Mission (NHM) Priyanka Shukla told PTI.
District hospital, community health centres (CHCs) and primary health centres (PHCs) have been selected as centres for the exercise which will start from 10 am onwards and 25 people will be part of the dry run in each centre, Shukla, who is also nodal officer for the state's COVID-19 vaccination drive, said.
"During the mock drill, assessment of cold chain management, vaccine supply, storage and logistics along with management of entry, registration, vaccination and observation of persons who will be administered the vaccine, will be carried out," Shukla informed. (PTI)
A total of 15 people died of Covid-19 and 871 tested positive for it in last 24 hours in Uttar Pradesh, taking the death toll due to the disease in the state on Friday to 8,379 and total cases of infection to 5,86,751.
A dry run for vaccination against Covid-19 would be held at six places in the state capital on Saturday, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Amit Mohan Prasad said in the state's daily health bulletin.
The government is making all preparations for administering vaccines, he added.
The active cases in the state stood at 13,831 with 5,924 people recuperating at home and 1,291 in private hospitals, Prasad said. The number of those cured has gone up to 5,64,541 with the recovery rate cocking 96.21 per cent now in the state, he added. (PTI)
Haryana reported six fatalities linked to the coronavirus on Friday, bringing the death toll to 2,911 even as 286 fresh cases pushed the state's infection tally to 2,62,611, according to a health department bulletin.
According to the state health department's daily bulletin, two new deaths were reported from Rewari and one each from Karnal, Panchkula, Jhajjar and Fatehabad districts.
Among the districts which reported fresh COVID-19 cases are Gurugram (64) and Faridabad (28). (PTI)