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Coronavirus in India
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sensible-indian-fan
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Glad to hear you are doing good now.
Looks like Covid does seem to hurt us in more ways than one.
Thanks for the advice on eating. Will keep that in mind.
KingKhanWC
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[MENTION=43583]KingKhanWC[/MENTION]-
Overweight by 8-10 KGs, with cubicle jobs. Have not touched the gym equipments in the last couple of years atleast, apart from the staionary bicycle (20 mins max on an avg). If walking the dog counts, we do it for about quarter of an hour in total. Non-veg, mostly home cooked diet, weekend eat-outs+order-ins during pre-covid days. Developed backpain in last couple of years, otherwise no major health issue.
Anything to worry?
I would suggest you take this experience and make strong changes to your life. What the governments and WHO rarely say but is most important, building ones immune system is the key to fighting viruses inc this one.
Exercise is vital, 20 mins a day on a bike is ok but you must be sweating at the end of your workout and feel your muscles have worked. Treadmill is the best , if you dont go to the gym its a great investment as both you and your partner can make use of it. With exercise you need to reach a point where the endorphins are kicking in , so you enjoy it rather than it being a chor. You will lose weight and see a massive difference in your general health. It also reduces stress.
As this is a respiratory virus, I eat Honey, either Manuka or Sidr(from Yemen), its amazing for the chest/lungs and has many other benefits. Drink 3-4 litres of water daily(min), eat fresh fruit, cut out carbs and stick to natural snacks such as nuts etc.
I also stay away from any tablets or pharma products. There is no evidence of immunity after contracting covid19, so it's important to improve your health for future.
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India begins selecting people for priority coronavirus vaccines
MUMBAI (Reuters) - India’s coronavirus infections rose by another 62,212 cases over the previous day and a local media report said on Saturday that the government had begun identifying about 300 million people who would be given the vaccine first when it is ready.
The Times of India said that frontline health and sanitation workers, police officials and elderly people with co-morbidities will get the vaccine on priority.
The plan, which is still in the draft stage, aims to cover 23% of the population in the first phase. The final plan is likely to be ready by end October-November, the report said.
The selected individuals will be given an estimated 600 million doses.
Earlier this month, health minister Harsh Vardhan had said that India hopes to receive up to 500 million doses of coronavirus vaccines by July next year to inoculate about 250 million people.
Officials have said that giving the vaccine to India’s 1.3 billion people will be a mammoth exercise, likely to stretch well into 2022.
India’s cumulative tally of coronavirus infections stood at 7.43 million on Saturday, having risen by 62,212 in the last 24 hours, health ministry data showed.
But the number of active infections slipped below 800,000 for the first time in 1.5 months, which the ministry called a significant achievement.
India has recorded the world’s second-largest number of cases after the United States and worries have been high that there may be further spikes during the ongoing festival season.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...r-priority-coronavirus-vaccines-idUSKBN272084
MUMBAI (Reuters) - India’s coronavirus infections rose by another 62,212 cases over the previous day and a local media report said on Saturday that the government had begun identifying about 300 million people who would be given the vaccine first when it is ready.
The Times of India said that frontline health and sanitation workers, police officials and elderly people with co-morbidities will get the vaccine on priority.
The plan, which is still in the draft stage, aims to cover 23% of the population in the first phase. The final plan is likely to be ready by end October-November, the report said.
The selected individuals will be given an estimated 600 million doses.
Earlier this month, health minister Harsh Vardhan had said that India hopes to receive up to 500 million doses of coronavirus vaccines by July next year to inoculate about 250 million people.
Officials have said that giving the vaccine to India’s 1.3 billion people will be a mammoth exercise, likely to stretch well into 2022.
India’s cumulative tally of coronavirus infections stood at 7.43 million on Saturday, having risen by 62,212 in the last 24 hours, health ministry data showed.
But the number of active infections slipped below 800,000 for the first time in 1.5 months, which the ministry called a significant achievement.
India has recorded the world’s second-largest number of cases after the United States and worries have been high that there may be further spikes during the ongoing festival season.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...r-priority-coronavirus-vaccines-idUSKBN272084
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Has the coronavirus pandemic already peaked in India? And can the spread of the virus be controlled by early next year?
A group of India's top scientists believe so. Their latest mathematical model suggests India passed its peak of reported infections in September and the pandemic can be controlled by February next year. All such models assume the obvious: people will wear masks, avoid large gatherings, maintain social distancing and wash hands.
India has recorded some 7.5 million Covid-19 cases and more than 114,00 deaths so far. It has a sixth of the world's population and a sixth of reported cases. However, India accounts for only 10% of the world's deaths from the virus. Its case fatality rate or CFR, which measures deaths among Covid-19 patients, is less than 2% - among the lowest in the world.
India hit a record peak in the middle of September when it reported more than a million active cases. Since then the caseload has been steadily declining. Last week, India reported an average of 62,000 cases and 784 deaths every day. Daily deaths have also been falling in most states. Testing has remained consistent - an average of more than a million samples were tested every day last week.
The seven scientists involved in the latest mathematical study commissioned by the government include Dr Gagandeep Kang, a microbiologist and the first Indian woman to be elected Fellow of the Royal Society of London. Among other things, the model looks at the rate at which people are getting infected, the rate at which they have recovered or died, and the fraction of infected people with significant symptoms. It also maps the trajectory of the disease by accounting for patients who have shown no signs of infection.
The scientists suggest that without the lockdown in late March, the number of active cases in India would have peaked at more than 14 million and that more than 2.6 million people would have died from Covid-19, some 23 times the current death toll. Interestingly, based on studies in the two states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the scientists concluded that the impact of the unchecked return of out-of-work migrants from the cities to the villages after the lockdown had "minimal" impact on case numbers.
"The peak would have arrived by June. This would have resulted in overwhelming our hospitals and caused widespread panic. The lockdown did help in flattening the curve," Mathukumalli Vidyasagar, a professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, and also a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, who led the study, told me.
But India's busy festival season is around the corner. This is when families get together. So a few "superspreader" events and increased mobility could still change the course of the virus in two weeks. Kerala, for instance, recorded a sharp uptick in cases in September following celebrations of Onam, a religious festival.
The scientists have warned of a massive spike in cases if people let their guard down: they predict a new peak of 2.6 million active infections by the end of October, up from 773,000 currently.
"All our projections will hold if people adhere to the safety protocols. We believe India went past the peak [of active infections] in September. We must not relax. There is a human tendency to think that the worst is behind us," Prof Vidyasagar says.
But most epidemiologists believe that another peak is inevitable and that northern India will likely see a rise in caseloads during a smog-filled winter that begins in November. They believe that the recent decline in cases and deaths is a promising sign, but it's far too early to say that the pandemic is receding.
Dr Bhramar Mukherjee, a professor of biostatistics and epidemiology at the University of Michigan who has been closely tracking the pandemic, told me it "does look like India has gone through its first wave".
But she believes there could be a rise in deaths in the winter due to pollution, which is especially bad for respiratory diseases.
Meanwhile, she added, it was critical to keep doing antibody surveys and monitoring cities and villages where a low proportion of people have been infected as there was more room for the virus to spread.
"If the natural experiments across the world tell us anything, there will be another peak, when and how high is hard to tell. The key is to keep cases and hospitalisations lower than the hospital capacity at a given location and keep practicing the public health guidelines. Let us worship human health, life and dignity this autumn," Dr Mukherjee says.
Clearly, hope can be quickly extinguished by complacency. So keep your mask on, and avoid large gatherings.
Charts by Shadab Nazmi
A group of India's top scientists believe so. Their latest mathematical model suggests India passed its peak of reported infections in September and the pandemic can be controlled by February next year. All such models assume the obvious: people will wear masks, avoid large gatherings, maintain social distancing and wash hands.
India has recorded some 7.5 million Covid-19 cases and more than 114,00 deaths so far. It has a sixth of the world's population and a sixth of reported cases. However, India accounts for only 10% of the world's deaths from the virus. Its case fatality rate or CFR, which measures deaths among Covid-19 patients, is less than 2% - among the lowest in the world.
India hit a record peak in the middle of September when it reported more than a million active cases. Since then the caseload has been steadily declining. Last week, India reported an average of 62,000 cases and 784 deaths every day. Daily deaths have also been falling in most states. Testing has remained consistent - an average of more than a million samples were tested every day last week.
The seven scientists involved in the latest mathematical study commissioned by the government include Dr Gagandeep Kang, a microbiologist and the first Indian woman to be elected Fellow of the Royal Society of London. Among other things, the model looks at the rate at which people are getting infected, the rate at which they have recovered or died, and the fraction of infected people with significant symptoms. It also maps the trajectory of the disease by accounting for patients who have shown no signs of infection.
The scientists suggest that without the lockdown in late March, the number of active cases in India would have peaked at more than 14 million and that more than 2.6 million people would have died from Covid-19, some 23 times the current death toll. Interestingly, based on studies in the two states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the scientists concluded that the impact of the unchecked return of out-of-work migrants from the cities to the villages after the lockdown had "minimal" impact on case numbers.
"The peak would have arrived by June. This would have resulted in overwhelming our hospitals and caused widespread panic. The lockdown did help in flattening the curve," Mathukumalli Vidyasagar, a professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, and also a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, who led the study, told me.
But India's busy festival season is around the corner. This is when families get together. So a few "superspreader" events and increased mobility could still change the course of the virus in two weeks. Kerala, for instance, recorded a sharp uptick in cases in September following celebrations of Onam, a religious festival.
The scientists have warned of a massive spike in cases if people let their guard down: they predict a new peak of 2.6 million active infections by the end of October, up from 773,000 currently.
"All our projections will hold if people adhere to the safety protocols. We believe India went past the peak [of active infections] in September. We must not relax. There is a human tendency to think that the worst is behind us," Prof Vidyasagar says.
But most epidemiologists believe that another peak is inevitable and that northern India will likely see a rise in caseloads during a smog-filled winter that begins in November. They believe that the recent decline in cases and deaths is a promising sign, but it's far too early to say that the pandemic is receding.
Dr Bhramar Mukherjee, a professor of biostatistics and epidemiology at the University of Michigan who has been closely tracking the pandemic, told me it "does look like India has gone through its first wave".
But she believes there could be a rise in deaths in the winter due to pollution, which is especially bad for respiratory diseases.
Meanwhile, she added, it was critical to keep doing antibody surveys and monitoring cities and villages where a low proportion of people have been infected as there was more room for the virus to spread.
"If the natural experiments across the world tell us anything, there will be another peak, when and how high is hard to tell. The key is to keep cases and hospitalisations lower than the hospital capacity at a given location and keep practicing the public health guidelines. Let us worship human health, life and dignity this autumn," Dr Mukherjee says.
Clearly, hope can be quickly extinguished by complacency. So keep your mask on, and avoid large gatherings.
Charts by Shadab Nazmi
Itachi
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Congrats to both of you for surviving this illness.
Won't call it survive though. Came out negative but weakness still persists and more importantly, fever is coming and going. I think I'll have to do another series of tests.
cricketjoshila
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Negative rt pcr or rapid antigen?
JaDed
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https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-india-cases/india-coronavirus-infections-rise-by-55722-idUSKBN2740E7
Half of Indians may have had coronavirus by February, government panel estimates
MUMBAI (Reuters) - At least half of India’s 1.3 billion people are likely to have been infected with the new coronavirus by next February, helping slow the spread of the disease, a member of a federal government committee tasked with providing projections said on Monday.
Slideshow ( 5 images )
India has so far reported 7.55 million cases of the coronavirus and is second only to the United States in terms of total infections.
But COVID-19 infections are decreasing in India after a peak in mid-September, with 61,390 new cases reported on average each day, according to a Reuters tally.
“Our mathematical model estimates that around 30% of the population is currently infected and it could go up to 50% by February,” Manindra Agrawal, a professor at the Indian Institute for Technology in Kanpur and a committee member, told Reuters.
The committee’s estimate for the current spread of the virus is much higher than the federal government’s serological surveys, which showed that only around 14 per cent of the population had been infected, as of September.
But Agrawal said serological surveys might not be able to get sampling absolutely correct because of the sheer size of the population that they were surveying.
Instead, the committee of virologists, scientists and other experts, whose report was made public on Sunday, has relied on a mathematical model.
“We have evolved a new model which explicitly takes into account unreported cases, so we can divide infected people into two categories – reported cases and infections that do not get reported,” Agrawal said.
The committee warned that their projections would not hold up if precautions were not followed, and cases could spike by up to 2.6 million infections in a single month if measures such as social distancing and wearing masks were ignored.
Experts have warned that infections could rise in India as the holiday season nears, with celebrations for the Hindu festivals of Durga Puja and Diwali due this month and in mid-November, respectively.
Reporting by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Editing by Devjyot Ghoshal and Hugh Lawson
Half of Indians may have had coronavirus by February, government panel estimates
MUMBAI (Reuters) - At least half of India’s 1.3 billion people are likely to have been infected with the new coronavirus by next February, helping slow the spread of the disease, a member of a federal government committee tasked with providing projections said on Monday.
Slideshow ( 5 images )
India has so far reported 7.55 million cases of the coronavirus and is second only to the United States in terms of total infections.
But COVID-19 infections are decreasing in India after a peak in mid-September, with 61,390 new cases reported on average each day, according to a Reuters tally.
“Our mathematical model estimates that around 30% of the population is currently infected and it could go up to 50% by February,” Manindra Agrawal, a professor at the Indian Institute for Technology in Kanpur and a committee member, told Reuters.
The committee’s estimate for the current spread of the virus is much higher than the federal government’s serological surveys, which showed that only around 14 per cent of the population had been infected, as of September.
But Agrawal said serological surveys might not be able to get sampling absolutely correct because of the sheer size of the population that they were surveying.
Instead, the committee of virologists, scientists and other experts, whose report was made public on Sunday, has relied on a mathematical model.
“We have evolved a new model which explicitly takes into account unreported cases, so we can divide infected people into two categories – reported cases and infections that do not get reported,” Agrawal said.
The committee warned that their projections would not hold up if precautions were not followed, and cases could spike by up to 2.6 million infections in a single month if measures such as social distancing and wearing masks were ignored.
Experts have warned that infections could rise in India as the holiday season nears, with celebrations for the Hindu festivals of Durga Puja and Diwali due this month and in mid-November, respectively.
Reporting by Shilpa Jamkhandikar; Editing by Devjyot Ghoshal and Hugh Lawson
JaDed
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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/20/india-at-heart-of-global-efforts-to-produce-covid-vaccine
India at heart of global efforts to produce Covid vaccine
As the largest global supplier of drugs and producer of 60% of the world’s vaccines, India has long been known as the “pharmacy of the world”.
Now, as the frenzied hunt for a Covid-19 vaccine gathers momentum, the country is playing an increasingly strategic and central role in the development, manufacturing – and, crucially, possible future distribution – of several possible Covid shots.
With more than 7.5 million cases and about 115,000 deaths, India is also one of the worst affected countries by the virus, second only to the US.
A deal has already been struck for the Serum Institute of India, based in the city of Pune, to produce 1bn doses of the the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, seen as the forerunner in the vaccine race. In anticipation of its success, it has already begun production of almost 2m samples of the vaccine and is carrying out phase 3 human clinical trials on thousands of patients spread across 15 Covid-19 hotspots in India.
This week, the Serum Institute of India said it was confident the AstraZeneca vaccine would be ready by December and would be licensed for distribution in India by March.
Covid vaccine tracker: when will a coronavirus vaccine be ready?
Read more
Adar Poonawalla, the CEO of the Serum institute of India, said he was “very optimistic” that more than one successful vaccine was imminent.
“A lot of the data that I have seen off-the-record in a lot of these vaccines is very promising and more than three to four vaccines will be successful very soon in the next year,” said Poonawalla.
The Serum Institute, which this week also began human trials on an intranasal Covid vaccine, is just one of the dozens of Indian companies in the running to produce the much-coveted vaccine, of which there are almost 200 different types being developed across the world.
Johnson and Johnson, whose Covid-19 vaccine is also in phase 3 clinical trials, has struck a deal with the Indian pharmaceutical company Biological E to produce up to 500m doses if successful.
Get Society Weekly: our newsletter for public service professionals
Read more
Bharat Biotech, a Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company, has a deal to manufacture 1bn doses of Washington University’s intranasal vaccine, now in clinical trials, and Indian pharmaceutical giant Dr Reddy’s has a deal to do a phase 2/3 human trials in India of Russia’s controversial Sputnik vaccine and then produce 100m doses. There are also at least a dozen indigenous vaccines being developed within India.
All this places India, and therefore the global south, in a significant strategic and powerful position in terms of distributing the the vaccine, particularly domestically and to non-western countries. Poonawalla of the Serum Institute said that “50% of whatever quantity we manufacture will be kept for India and the remaining will go to low- and middle-income countries”.
In order to have the capacity to manufacture hundreds of millions of promised Covid vaccines, Poonawalla said the company would stop production of other vaccines destined for the US and Europe, such as measles, mumps, rubella and Hepatitis B, though still supply them to developing countries.
Mahima Datla, the CEO of Biological E, which will manufacture the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, took a different approach and said the company was committed to the Covax vaccine alliance, signed up to by 135 countries, which will push for equal procurement and distribution of the vaccine.
“We’ve never made trade-off decisions between the vaccine needs of India and global organisations such as Unicef,” said Datla. “So far we don’t have any obligations to reserve a certain amount of the vaccine for India. But in the future, there might be a demand-supply gap that might put us in that position.”
Yet the irony is that while India is one of the world’s biggest vaccine-producing nations, it faces one of the greatest global challenges in getting its 1.3 billion people immunised.
India has a highly effective immunisation programme for babies and pregnant women but there is nothing in place for the rest of the population, in particular the elderly who are the most vulnerable to coronavirus. The healthcare system, already overburdened, has been pushed to breaking point by the pandemic in many areas and swathes of rural India barely have access to healthcare at all.
India, which suffers from extreme heat, is also lacking adequate cold chain facilities, which ensure the vaccine is kept refrigerated, and therefore effective, until the moment it is administered. Some of the vaccines being developed might need to be stored at up to -70C.
There is also the matter of cost. The Serum Institute said it expected the vaccine to cost about $5 (£3.80). With the Indian government aiming to have 250 million people immunised by July 2021, it means it will need to raise $1.25bn to cover the costs.
“The complications in India are going to be phenomenal,” said Gagandeep Kang, an Indian professor of microbiology who is a member of the WHO’s global advisory committee on vaccine safety. “The main worry is the scale and the tracking – how do you know who got the vaccine and who didn’t – and the fact that the storage conditions needed are still an unknown.”
Yet Kang said even an more worrying threat lurks in India, that of a virulent anti-vaccine movement that had already gathered momentum in rural villages against the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine over the past five years. Kang said she had witnessed how anti-vaccine conspiracies had spread like wildfire in WhatsApp messages written in local languages, which had been very difficult to counter.
“I worry that the longer it takes for a Covid-19 vaccination programme to roll out in India, the more anti-vaccine conspiracies theories and resistance we will have to deal with,” said Kang.
India at heart of global efforts to produce Covid vaccine
As the largest global supplier of drugs and producer of 60% of the world’s vaccines, India has long been known as the “pharmacy of the world”.
Now, as the frenzied hunt for a Covid-19 vaccine gathers momentum, the country is playing an increasingly strategic and central role in the development, manufacturing – and, crucially, possible future distribution – of several possible Covid shots.
With more than 7.5 million cases and about 115,000 deaths, India is also one of the worst affected countries by the virus, second only to the US.
A deal has already been struck for the Serum Institute of India, based in the city of Pune, to produce 1bn doses of the the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, seen as the forerunner in the vaccine race. In anticipation of its success, it has already begun production of almost 2m samples of the vaccine and is carrying out phase 3 human clinical trials on thousands of patients spread across 15 Covid-19 hotspots in India.
This week, the Serum Institute of India said it was confident the AstraZeneca vaccine would be ready by December and would be licensed for distribution in India by March.
Covid vaccine tracker: when will a coronavirus vaccine be ready?
Read more
Adar Poonawalla, the CEO of the Serum institute of India, said he was “very optimistic” that more than one successful vaccine was imminent.
“A lot of the data that I have seen off-the-record in a lot of these vaccines is very promising and more than three to four vaccines will be successful very soon in the next year,” said Poonawalla.
The Serum Institute, which this week also began human trials on an intranasal Covid vaccine, is just one of the dozens of Indian companies in the running to produce the much-coveted vaccine, of which there are almost 200 different types being developed across the world.
Johnson and Johnson, whose Covid-19 vaccine is also in phase 3 clinical trials, has struck a deal with the Indian pharmaceutical company Biological E to produce up to 500m doses if successful.
Get Society Weekly: our newsletter for public service professionals
Read more
Bharat Biotech, a Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company, has a deal to manufacture 1bn doses of Washington University’s intranasal vaccine, now in clinical trials, and Indian pharmaceutical giant Dr Reddy’s has a deal to do a phase 2/3 human trials in India of Russia’s controversial Sputnik vaccine and then produce 100m doses. There are also at least a dozen indigenous vaccines being developed within India.
All this places India, and therefore the global south, in a significant strategic and powerful position in terms of distributing the the vaccine, particularly domestically and to non-western countries. Poonawalla of the Serum Institute said that “50% of whatever quantity we manufacture will be kept for India and the remaining will go to low- and middle-income countries”.
In order to have the capacity to manufacture hundreds of millions of promised Covid vaccines, Poonawalla said the company would stop production of other vaccines destined for the US and Europe, such as measles, mumps, rubella and Hepatitis B, though still supply them to developing countries.
Mahima Datla, the CEO of Biological E, which will manufacture the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, took a different approach and said the company was committed to the Covax vaccine alliance, signed up to by 135 countries, which will push for equal procurement and distribution of the vaccine.
“We’ve never made trade-off decisions between the vaccine needs of India and global organisations such as Unicef,” said Datla. “So far we don’t have any obligations to reserve a certain amount of the vaccine for India. But in the future, there might be a demand-supply gap that might put us in that position.”
Yet the irony is that while India is one of the world’s biggest vaccine-producing nations, it faces one of the greatest global challenges in getting its 1.3 billion people immunised.
India has a highly effective immunisation programme for babies and pregnant women but there is nothing in place for the rest of the population, in particular the elderly who are the most vulnerable to coronavirus. The healthcare system, already overburdened, has been pushed to breaking point by the pandemic in many areas and swathes of rural India barely have access to healthcare at all.
India, which suffers from extreme heat, is also lacking adequate cold chain facilities, which ensure the vaccine is kept refrigerated, and therefore effective, until the moment it is administered. Some of the vaccines being developed might need to be stored at up to -70C.
There is also the matter of cost. The Serum Institute said it expected the vaccine to cost about $5 (£3.80). With the Indian government aiming to have 250 million people immunised by July 2021, it means it will need to raise $1.25bn to cover the costs.
“The complications in India are going to be phenomenal,” said Gagandeep Kang, an Indian professor of microbiology who is a member of the WHO’s global advisory committee on vaccine safety. “The main worry is the scale and the tracking – how do you know who got the vaccine and who didn’t – and the fact that the storage conditions needed are still an unknown.”
Yet Kang said even an more worrying threat lurks in India, that of a virulent anti-vaccine movement that had already gathered momentum in rural villages against the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine over the past five years. Kang said she had witnessed how anti-vaccine conspiracies had spread like wildfire in WhatsApp messages written in local languages, which had been very difficult to counter.
“I worry that the longer it takes for a Covid-19 vaccination programme to roll out in India, the more anti-vaccine conspiracies theories and resistance we will have to deal with,” said Kang.
Itachi
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RAT or RT PCR negativity indicates that you are no longer infectious to other people. But it doesn’t mean that you have recovered completely if there are still some lingering symptoms. Ideally you can get admitted in a ward (not Isolation) now, get treated like any other normal disease and should be discharged until all the symptoms are gone. Some test negative patients have died on the 14-21 days of illness.. There are lung complications, myocarditis and severe fatigue in some of the recovered pts. So we need to watch out for this.
Itachi
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I've noticed that too where a few people I know died after coming negative. Some had severe lung damage which was revealed in CT. I guess I will do a CT just for the safety purpose.
cricketjoshila
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Yes. Negative RAT but symptomatic means go for RT PCR. Or get a HRCT done. If it shows signs of viral pneumonia, get a RT PCR.
sensible-indian-fan
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Can anyone explain to me how does this work?
If 30% of Indians have had Corona, then shouldn't deaths be mounting?
Heard the same for USA. Real cases in tens of millions or something.
Then shouldn't deaths be mounting there too?
On one hand, we talk about 1-2% fatality rate....and on the other, we talk about this.
I am not getting it.
Admitted, I haven't been following Corona news for the last several months so not up to date on this.
[MENTION=133135]kaayal[/MENTION]
[MENTION=134408]Sidilicious[/MENTION]
[MENTION=137142]JaDed[/MENTION]
Anyone?
last_knight
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Case Fatality Rate, CFR, estimates the proportion of deaths among confirmed cases.
Infection Fatility Rate, IFR, estimates the proportion of deaths among all infected people. Number of infected people is calculated using different formulas but its just an estimate.
1-2% is CFR. IFR is obviously much much lower than that.
sensible-indian-fan
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I get that bud....but in the end...
If death rate is 1-2% among confirmed cases, will it not be the same for cases which aren't confirmed but likely infected.
If you are saying 30 crore people (300 million) got infected in India, at 1-2% death rate, that would be 3 crores dead (30 million).
Even at 0.1% death rate, that would 30 lakhs dead (0.3 million).
On one hand, we say we can't hide that amount of deaths.
On the other hand, we say 20-30-40% of population already got infected.
I don't get it.
I don’t believe this mathematical model tbh. This is like the one propogated by the Trump supporters. Only serological surveillance reports are reliable and that too done with proper testing kits.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/29/health/coronavirus-herd-immunity.html
sensible-indian-fan
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Arsal_AK
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No, while there are deaths amongst those who aren't confirmed covid positive, the percentage is ridiculously low when compared to those who had confirmed diagnoses.
The main drivers of such a low IFR are those with asymptomatic or mild infections. They don't feel the need to go to the hospital or get the test done. Almost 70-80 percent infections will be of these sort. A small cold, slight fever or fatigue which you could pass for literally any other random infection.
So CFR will always be much higher than the IFR.
IFR is not constant. It can and does vary. For SARS-COV-2 it is dependent on which region we are in, age of the population and the medical response.
Age being the biggest culprit here. India, Pakistan having such low median age, means that the IFR is lower.
Previous immunity from other human coronaviruses could also give some immunity to the N-COV which again might be the case in some Asian countries.
Also, now we have a better understanding and hence better treatments available and shouldn't be cuaght offgaurd to the degree we were before. Which means we should see fewer deaths and that seems to be the case.
Finally from tests we now that antibodies are not detectable in some cases after a while, or even really soon after infections. But when you look at T cells, you see immune response show up there. That means that we are further undercounting the infections, which means the IFR is probably lower still.
Now combine all those factors and it's starts to explain why some countries though have infections in the millions the deaths are substantially lower.
Oh you too got infected. Same here. Just came out of isolation. Feels good to be back amongst humans.
gani999
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There have been reports that a lot of recovered patients test positive in RT-PCR. Even if they don't have the actual virus in them, they still have traces of the viral RNA, which is what the RT-PCR detects. Even so, RT-PCR is the gold standard.
gani999
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It's all complicated by the basic fact that people don't die of the coronavirus itself. The viral sepsis and cytokine storm that results ends up aggravating pre-existing conditions. For example, a heart patient who tests positive for coronavirus may die of a massive heart attack, which may have happened irrespective of the coronavirus. How would the authorities report such a death?
IMHO, the death figure of 1-2% may be an exaggeration.
Agree RT-PCR is the gold standard test for Covid19 but now here, it’s a wastage of test when we have already detected that he have had Covid. He is no longer infectious even if he have some traces of Viral RNA within him. What needed is adequate Post-covid care. Baseline serum samples, pulmonary function test, ECG, CT chest, CXR etc of Covid patients should be preserved to enable longitudinal observations of organ function in post-Covid state. Discharge criteria needs to move away from viral testing to clinical parameters as recommended by ICMR.
Many are still sceptical about the killing power of SARS Cov 2. Many believe people die due to co morbidities and not due to SARS Cov2. But if we look at the data there was excess deaths varying from 15% to 156% In most of the counties of the World.
sensible-indian-fan
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Thank you. That gives me a lot to think about.
So what's the actual mortality rate for covid then?
By this logic, it should be 0.1% or 0.01% right?
If that's the case, was everything we did worth it?
Not arguing but trying to understand.
sensible-indian-fan
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Yeah we may not know the accurate data as of now.
I think the world has taken an approach where it's better to overreact than under react to this situation?
The death count can be adjusted later.
But deaths have piled on for sure and if not for measures, the numbers would be much higher.
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India's central bank chief tests positive for coronavirus
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India’s central bank Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Sunday he had tested positive for the coronavirus, the latest high profile name in the country to contract the virus.
“I have tested Covid-19 positive. Asymptomatic. Feeling very much alright,” Das said in a tweet.
“Will continue to work from isolation. Work in the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) will go on normally,” he said.
Many top Indian politicians including Home Minister Amit Shah and actors such as Amitabh Bachchan have tested positive for the virus, and since recovered.
Over 7.8 million Indians have tested positive for COVID-19 so far. The pandemic has claimed 118,534 lives in the world’s second most populous country.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-tests-positive-for-coronavirus-idUSKBN27A0K6
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India’s central bank Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Sunday he had tested positive for the coronavirus, the latest high profile name in the country to contract the virus.
“I have tested Covid-19 positive. Asymptomatic. Feeling very much alright,” Das said in a tweet.
“Will continue to work from isolation. Work in the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) will go on normally,” he said.
Many top Indian politicians including Home Minister Amit Shah and actors such as Amitabh Bachchan have tested positive for the virus, and since recovered.
Over 7.8 million Indians have tested positive for COVID-19 so far. The pandemic has claimed 118,534 lives in the world’s second most populous country.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-tests-positive-for-coronavirus-idUSKBN27A0K6
The Viper
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India coronavirus cases cross 8 million amid fears of second wave
Coronavirus cases in India have crossed the eight million mark with the world’s second-worst hit country now bracing for a possible second wave ahead of winter.
With 49,881 new reported infections on Thursday, India now has 8,040,203 COVID-19 cases and 120,527 deaths, according to the latest government figures.
The world’s second-most populous nation and home to 1.3 billion people has the second-highest tally of infections after the United States, which has recorded 8.9 million cases.
Cases in India have dipped sharply from September’s peak, but experts warn the onset of winter and the current festival season could bring another spike.
Also, the death toll has been low relative to the number of infections, with 517 new deaths recorded in the last 24 hours – one of the lowest death rates in the world.
Meanwhile, life in India is edging back to pre-virus levels with shops, businesses, subway trains and movie theatres reopening. The country’s third-largest state of Bihar, with a population of about 122 million people, is also holding elections.
Authorities are also preparing for a new surge after Indians celebrate Diwali, the most important Hindu festival, on November 14.
A stringent lockdown imposed in March has gradually been eased as the government seeks to reboot the economy after the loss of millions of jobs nationwide.
But experts say this has helped the spread of the virus.
New Delhi recorded 5,000 new cases on Wednesday, its highest daily figure since the outbreak of the pandemic. Officials warn the capital could see more than 10,000 cases a day in the next wave.
Randeep Guleria, director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, told the Times of India newspaper that if cases continued to surge, the country’s fragile healthcare system “will get really stressed”.
Authorities are also worried about the southern state of Kerala and West Bengal in the east – which have seen worrying spikes in cases.
The financial capital of Mumbai, which is India’s worst-hit city with more than 250,000 cases and over 10,000 deaths, is currently adding about 2,000 cases a day.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has warned the people in recent speeches that they are being “careless” by not practising social distancing and taking other precautions against the virus.
Dr Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health and a leading infectious disease expert, said research has shown that a combination of cooler and drier air spreads the virus more efficiently.
“In drier air, those droplets tend to be smaller and can linger in the air,” Jha said.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/10/29/india-crosses-grim-landmark-of-8-million-coronavirus-cases
Coronavirus cases in India have crossed the eight million mark with the world’s second-worst hit country now bracing for a possible second wave ahead of winter.
With 49,881 new reported infections on Thursday, India now has 8,040,203 COVID-19 cases and 120,527 deaths, according to the latest government figures.
The world’s second-most populous nation and home to 1.3 billion people has the second-highest tally of infections after the United States, which has recorded 8.9 million cases.
Cases in India have dipped sharply from September’s peak, but experts warn the onset of winter and the current festival season could bring another spike.
Also, the death toll has been low relative to the number of infections, with 517 new deaths recorded in the last 24 hours – one of the lowest death rates in the world.
Meanwhile, life in India is edging back to pre-virus levels with shops, businesses, subway trains and movie theatres reopening. The country’s third-largest state of Bihar, with a population of about 122 million people, is also holding elections.
Authorities are also preparing for a new surge after Indians celebrate Diwali, the most important Hindu festival, on November 14.
A stringent lockdown imposed in March has gradually been eased as the government seeks to reboot the economy after the loss of millions of jobs nationwide.
But experts say this has helped the spread of the virus.
New Delhi recorded 5,000 new cases on Wednesday, its highest daily figure since the outbreak of the pandemic. Officials warn the capital could see more than 10,000 cases a day in the next wave.
Randeep Guleria, director of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, told the Times of India newspaper that if cases continued to surge, the country’s fragile healthcare system “will get really stressed”.
Authorities are also worried about the southern state of Kerala and West Bengal in the east – which have seen worrying spikes in cases.
The financial capital of Mumbai, which is India’s worst-hit city with more than 250,000 cases and over 10,000 deaths, is currently adding about 2,000 cases a day.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has warned the people in recent speeches that they are being “careless” by not practising social distancing and taking other precautions against the virus.
Dr Ashish Jha, dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health and a leading infectious disease expert, said research has shown that a combination of cooler and drier air spreads the virus more efficiently.
“In drier air, those droplets tend to be smaller and can linger in the air,” Jha said.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/10/29/india-crosses-grim-landmark-of-8-million-coronavirus-cases
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Countries around the world are working out ways to vaccinate their populations against COVID-19.
But India, with its massive population of 1.3 billion, faces a bigger challenge than most.
The country has set aside $7bn (£5.3bn) and the Union government has created a task force to plan for the distribution of the vaccine throughout the country.
It has directed the states to identify people who would be on the priority list to receive the first doses.
An estimated 250-300 million people, including front line health and essential service workers, medical students, law enforcement, teachers, and the military, would be on that list.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the "prioritisation of groups to be vaccinated shall be based on key considerations.
"First is the occupational hazard at the risk of exposure to the infection and second is the risk of developing severe disease and increased mortality."
The government will procure the vaccine directly from its producers and make it available free of charge to this priority group.
The task force has started identifying primary health care centres, school premises, and village community centres to be used to vaccinate people.
But the logistics involved in reaching every single Indian will present a Herculean task.
India is almost 2,000 miles north to south and the same east to west and access to some places are extremely difficult.
Added to this are the vaccine protocols to be followed in terms of maintaining the cold chain, having adequate syringes and the actual implementation of vaccination.
For months, the summer heat will make it difficult for health workers to keep the vaccines cold enough, especially in rural India.
Speaking to an Indian channel, taskforce member Dr Randeep Guleria said that those who are not on the priority list may have to wait for more than a year for a shot of the vaccine.
"In our country the population is large; we need time to see how the vaccine can be bought from the market like a flu vaccine and take it," he said.
"Maintaining the cold chain, having adequate syringes, adequate needles and being able to deliver it to the remotest part of the country in a seamless manner is the biggest challenge."
The Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN) system will be used to provide real-time information on vaccine stocks and storage temperatures across all cold chain points in the country. The eVIN is an Indian technology system used in the country's universal immunisation programme since 2015.
The junior health minister said: "The eVIN system is being enhanced to address the needs and distribution and tracking of COVID-19 vaccines whenever it becomes available."
Though the country has been effective in implementing its immunisation programs for babies and pregnant women, there hasn't been a project so enormous and vast to vaccinate every citizen in the country.
The COVID-19 vaccination will be a gigantic task for the overburdened health system particularly in rural India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has proposed using the experience of the successful conduct of elections and disaster management, for developing the vaccine delivery and distribution system, involving participation of states, district and village level functionaries, civil society organisations, volunteers, citizens, and experts from all necessary domains.
For decades, successive governments have spent just over 1.2 % of the GDP on public healthcare. In the face of a severe pandemic, this ignored and struggling infrastructure could collapse - affecting the poorest in this country.
Almost 70% of citizens use private hospitals, clinics and doctors. The cost of healthcare has been on the rise and illness can push a family into poverty.
India is the second worst affected country after the United States with more than 8.6 million coronavirus cases and 127,615 reported deaths.
https://news.sky.com/story/coronavi...-1-3-billion-people-against-covid-19-12129652
But India, with its massive population of 1.3 billion, faces a bigger challenge than most.
The country has set aside $7bn (£5.3bn) and the Union government has created a task force to plan for the distribution of the vaccine throughout the country.
It has directed the states to identify people who would be on the priority list to receive the first doses.
An estimated 250-300 million people, including front line health and essential service workers, medical students, law enforcement, teachers, and the military, would be on that list.
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the "prioritisation of groups to be vaccinated shall be based on key considerations.
"First is the occupational hazard at the risk of exposure to the infection and second is the risk of developing severe disease and increased mortality."
The government will procure the vaccine directly from its producers and make it available free of charge to this priority group.
The task force has started identifying primary health care centres, school premises, and village community centres to be used to vaccinate people.
But the logistics involved in reaching every single Indian will present a Herculean task.
India is almost 2,000 miles north to south and the same east to west and access to some places are extremely difficult.
Added to this are the vaccine protocols to be followed in terms of maintaining the cold chain, having adequate syringes and the actual implementation of vaccination.
For months, the summer heat will make it difficult for health workers to keep the vaccines cold enough, especially in rural India.
Speaking to an Indian channel, taskforce member Dr Randeep Guleria said that those who are not on the priority list may have to wait for more than a year for a shot of the vaccine.
"In our country the population is large; we need time to see how the vaccine can be bought from the market like a flu vaccine and take it," he said.
"Maintaining the cold chain, having adequate syringes, adequate needles and being able to deliver it to the remotest part of the country in a seamless manner is the biggest challenge."
The Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN) system will be used to provide real-time information on vaccine stocks and storage temperatures across all cold chain points in the country. The eVIN is an Indian technology system used in the country's universal immunisation programme since 2015.
The junior health minister said: "The eVIN system is being enhanced to address the needs and distribution and tracking of COVID-19 vaccines whenever it becomes available."
Though the country has been effective in implementing its immunisation programs for babies and pregnant women, there hasn't been a project so enormous and vast to vaccinate every citizen in the country.
The COVID-19 vaccination will be a gigantic task for the overburdened health system particularly in rural India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has proposed using the experience of the successful conduct of elections and disaster management, for developing the vaccine delivery and distribution system, involving participation of states, district and village level functionaries, civil society organisations, volunteers, citizens, and experts from all necessary domains.
For decades, successive governments have spent just over 1.2 % of the GDP on public healthcare. In the face of a severe pandemic, this ignored and struggling infrastructure could collapse - affecting the poorest in this country.
Almost 70% of citizens use private hospitals, clinics and doctors. The cost of healthcare has been on the rise and illness can push a family into poverty.
India is the second worst affected country after the United States with more than 8.6 million coronavirus cases and 127,615 reported deaths.
https://news.sky.com/story/coronavi...-1-3-billion-people-against-covid-19-12129652
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Delhi's Covid cases spike as temperatures drop and pollution rises
India's capital, Delhi, is battling a winter surge in Covid-19 cases as temperatures plummet and air pollution rises to dangerous levels.
The city confirmed more than 8,500 cases on Wednesday alone, its highest daily record yet.
It also added 85 deaths in a day, putting the total beyond 7,000.
The sharp spike in cases after a months-long lull has also put pressure on hospitals - more than half the available beds are already occupied.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written to the federal government asking for more beds at government hospitals as public pressure mounts.
At 8.6m and counting, India currently has the world's second-highest caseload. But it had been on the decline from the middle of September: daily case counts dropped from nearly 100,000 to as low as 37,000 in the weeks that followed, even as testing remained consistent.
The daily national tally continues to hover between 40,000-50,000 - India recorded some 48,200 cases on Wednesday.
But Delhi has seen an alarming spike in recent weeks, recording more new cases than any other state. The capital has confirmed just over 450,000 cases so far, some 42,000 of which are active.
It comes as large swathes of northern India confront a winter season and dangerously high levels of air pollution - two factors that could significantly worsen efforts to control the virus, according to experts.
The rising numbers also coincide with a busy festival season in India, with Hindus celebrating Diwali this weekend. Delhi has banned the sale and use of fireworks and officials have reinforced the need for social distancing, but visuals of crowds thronging markets in the city have caused alarm. Authorities found a high positivity rate among shopkeepers in some of the oldest markets, which are at risk of becoming hotspots.
"Two elderly patients of mine had to wait for more than 20 hours to get a bed," said Dr Joyeeta Basu, a physician in Delhi.
Nearly 8,600 beds out of the 16,573 Covid beds in Delhi's public and private hospitals were full as of Wednesday evening, according to the government's Corona app. But more worryingly, unoccupied beds in intensive care units (ICU) are more scarce - only 176 beds with ventilators and 338 beds without ventilators are available. On Thursday, the Delhi High Court said some 33 private hospitals could reserve 80% of ICU beds for Covid patients due to spiralling cases and strained hospital resources.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-54912871
India's capital, Delhi, is battling a winter surge in Covid-19 cases as temperatures plummet and air pollution rises to dangerous levels.
The city confirmed more than 8,500 cases on Wednesday alone, its highest daily record yet.
It also added 85 deaths in a day, putting the total beyond 7,000.
The sharp spike in cases after a months-long lull has also put pressure on hospitals - more than half the available beds are already occupied.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written to the federal government asking for more beds at government hospitals as public pressure mounts.
At 8.6m and counting, India currently has the world's second-highest caseload. But it had been on the decline from the middle of September: daily case counts dropped from nearly 100,000 to as low as 37,000 in the weeks that followed, even as testing remained consistent.
The daily national tally continues to hover between 40,000-50,000 - India recorded some 48,200 cases on Wednesday.
But Delhi has seen an alarming spike in recent weeks, recording more new cases than any other state. The capital has confirmed just over 450,000 cases so far, some 42,000 of which are active.
It comes as large swathes of northern India confront a winter season and dangerously high levels of air pollution - two factors that could significantly worsen efforts to control the virus, according to experts.
The rising numbers also coincide with a busy festival season in India, with Hindus celebrating Diwali this weekend. Delhi has banned the sale and use of fireworks and officials have reinforced the need for social distancing, but visuals of crowds thronging markets in the city have caused alarm. Authorities found a high positivity rate among shopkeepers in some of the oldest markets, which are at risk of becoming hotspots.
"Two elderly patients of mine had to wait for more than 20 hours to get a bed," said Dr Joyeeta Basu, a physician in Delhi.
Nearly 8,600 beds out of the 16,573 Covid beds in Delhi's public and private hospitals were full as of Wednesday evening, according to the government's Corona app. But more worryingly, unoccupied beds in intensive care units (ICU) are more scarce - only 176 beds with ventilators and 338 beds without ventilators are available. On Thursday, the Delhi High Court said some 33 private hospitals could reserve 80% of ICU beds for Covid patients due to spiralling cases and strained hospital resources.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-54912871
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Delhi’s COVID-19 deaths rose by a record high on Thursday and it also reported the most number of infections in India, an increase attributed to the city’s toxic air and a lack of physical distancing in public places around a major festival.
While daily case additions have come down significantly in the country as a whole since a mid-September peak, the capital city of 20 million people is going through its worst phase in the pandemic.
Delhi late on Thursday reported 104 new deaths and 7,053 new infections. Data from the federal health ministry early on Friday showed that infections in the country rose by 44,789 in the past 24 hours, taking the total to 8.73 million, only behind the US tally.
India’s deaths increased by 547 to 128,668.
As Delhi’s cases rise in its third-wave of infections, many hospitals have already run out of intensive care beds and even normal COVID-19 beds are getting occupied fast.
On the request of the local government, the Delhi High Court on Thursday ordered the city’s private hospitals to reserve 80 percent of their critical-care beds for patients infected by the novel coronavirus.
The federal government has asked Delhi to prepare resources to handle cases of up to 15,000 a day during the winter season when pollution peaks in the city and respiratory issues jump.
The air is only likely to worsen on the weekend due to thousands of firecrackers ignited during the Hindu festival of lights, Diwali. Its residents have already swarmed markets to buy gifts for family and friends.
Doctors say PM2.5 pollutants, fine particles found in high concentration in Delhi’s air, can break the nasal passage barrier, weaken the inner lining of lungs and facilitate the spread of coronavirus infection.
“Painful,” tweeted Arvinder Singh Soin, a surgeon in a top hospital near Delhi, referring to Delhi hospitals getting flooded with COVID-19 patients. “And the festive surge has only just begun.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020...ts-new-covid-19-deaths-record-amid-third-wave
While daily case additions have come down significantly in the country as a whole since a mid-September peak, the capital city of 20 million people is going through its worst phase in the pandemic.
Delhi late on Thursday reported 104 new deaths and 7,053 new infections. Data from the federal health ministry early on Friday showed that infections in the country rose by 44,789 in the past 24 hours, taking the total to 8.73 million, only behind the US tally.
India’s deaths increased by 547 to 128,668.
As Delhi’s cases rise in its third-wave of infections, many hospitals have already run out of intensive care beds and even normal COVID-19 beds are getting occupied fast.
On the request of the local government, the Delhi High Court on Thursday ordered the city’s private hospitals to reserve 80 percent of their critical-care beds for patients infected by the novel coronavirus.
The federal government has asked Delhi to prepare resources to handle cases of up to 15,000 a day during the winter season when pollution peaks in the city and respiratory issues jump.
The air is only likely to worsen on the weekend due to thousands of firecrackers ignited during the Hindu festival of lights, Diwali. Its residents have already swarmed markets to buy gifts for family and friends.
Doctors say PM2.5 pollutants, fine particles found in high concentration in Delhi’s air, can break the nasal passage barrier, weaken the inner lining of lungs and facilitate the spread of coronavirus infection.
“Painful,” tweeted Arvinder Singh Soin, a surgeon in a top hospital near Delhi, referring to Delhi hospitals getting flooded with COVID-19 patients. “And the festive surge has only just begun.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020...ts-new-covid-19-deaths-record-amid-third-wave
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After months of lockdown and restrictions, the festive season in India is here.
An equivalent of Christmas, Diwali - the festival of Lights - is being celebrated across the country but under the shadow of a pandemic.
At a religious gathering in a gated community in Ghaziabad the enthusiasm is evident.
Men, women, old and young dance in gay abandon to religious songs belted out by a singer and his orchestra. There is no social distancing and very few wear masks. Here, caution is the first casualty.
It's exactly these gatherings that doctors have warned could be super-spreader events. But now COVID-19 fatigue has set in and people just need a respite from it all.
Dr Rommel Tickoo, associate director of internal medicines at Max Healthcare hospital, told Sky News: "People are out partying for Diwali, they are shopping, socialising. They don't understand the consequences. It's not just about you or me, it's about your family, folks at home and colleagues at work."
"There is always a next time. We can always celebrate Diwali next year".
In markets, footfalls are back to pre-COVID-19 levels. Shops in Delhi are crowded with people. Here, too, social distancing and personal protection is missing.
Diwali is an auspicious time for shopkeepers, traders and businesses. They gear up the whole year for the season, and the large crowds are a sigh of relief for them.
Parmajeet Singh, 47, who owns a women's garments store, told Sky News: "We shopkeepers have gone through very difficult times. Our business was uncertain, we found it hard to get food on the table, it was a hand-to-mouth existence, but now it's back and we are happy and feel better.
"Almost 80% of the market is back, it's like rain that gives life. It's a godsend, we have got life in us, you can see it on the faces of shopkeepers."
With almost 8.7 million cases, India is the world's second worst affected country after the US and more than 128,500 people have died so far. But even with its poor record of public health care, the fatality rate is low. Its figure of 92 deaths per million is well below the world's average of 160 and the UK's 760.
Dr Tickoo says: "The government was decisive and quick to lock down, and at the right time, which was in early March: that prevented millions of people getting COVID-19 and prevented many deaths. It also helped us prepare ourselves and the entire credit goes to the government."
India enforced one of the severest lockdowns. It drove millions of migrants back to their villages, leaving them without an income for months.
But with a graded unlocking of the economy, they take their chances between hunger and a ravaging infection that could be fatal.
Dinesh, a 24-year-old labourer from the state of Odisha, told Sky News: "What to do? It's an emergency, there is no money at home, I must earn something for a living.
"We are helpless as there is no work in the villages. Should we starve? The government is not listening to us."
A COVID-19 mobile testing van stands nearby to conduct rapid antigen tests on workers. A negative test means bread on the table for their families.
As winter sets in and the air quality gets worse, doctors have warned the combination could see a spike in cases.
Dr Tickoo says: "We are in for a double whammy. Air pollution damages lungs and COVID-19 targets it."
The pandemic looms large over this holiday season, but for the moment, the festival of lights has brought a cheer.
https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19...-super-spreading-events-experts-warn-12131763
An equivalent of Christmas, Diwali - the festival of Lights - is being celebrated across the country but under the shadow of a pandemic.
At a religious gathering in a gated community in Ghaziabad the enthusiasm is evident.
Men, women, old and young dance in gay abandon to religious songs belted out by a singer and his orchestra. There is no social distancing and very few wear masks. Here, caution is the first casualty.
It's exactly these gatherings that doctors have warned could be super-spreader events. But now COVID-19 fatigue has set in and people just need a respite from it all.
Dr Rommel Tickoo, associate director of internal medicines at Max Healthcare hospital, told Sky News: "People are out partying for Diwali, they are shopping, socialising. They don't understand the consequences. It's not just about you or me, it's about your family, folks at home and colleagues at work."
"There is always a next time. We can always celebrate Diwali next year".
In markets, footfalls are back to pre-COVID-19 levels. Shops in Delhi are crowded with people. Here, too, social distancing and personal protection is missing.
Diwali is an auspicious time for shopkeepers, traders and businesses. They gear up the whole year for the season, and the large crowds are a sigh of relief for them.
Parmajeet Singh, 47, who owns a women's garments store, told Sky News: "We shopkeepers have gone through very difficult times. Our business was uncertain, we found it hard to get food on the table, it was a hand-to-mouth existence, but now it's back and we are happy and feel better.
"Almost 80% of the market is back, it's like rain that gives life. It's a godsend, we have got life in us, you can see it on the faces of shopkeepers."
With almost 8.7 million cases, India is the world's second worst affected country after the US and more than 128,500 people have died so far. But even with its poor record of public health care, the fatality rate is low. Its figure of 92 deaths per million is well below the world's average of 160 and the UK's 760.
Dr Tickoo says: "The government was decisive and quick to lock down, and at the right time, which was in early March: that prevented millions of people getting COVID-19 and prevented many deaths. It also helped us prepare ourselves and the entire credit goes to the government."
India enforced one of the severest lockdowns. It drove millions of migrants back to their villages, leaving them without an income for months.
But with a graded unlocking of the economy, they take their chances between hunger and a ravaging infection that could be fatal.
Dinesh, a 24-year-old labourer from the state of Odisha, told Sky News: "What to do? It's an emergency, there is no money at home, I must earn something for a living.
"We are helpless as there is no work in the villages. Should we starve? The government is not listening to us."
A COVID-19 mobile testing van stands nearby to conduct rapid antigen tests on workers. A negative test means bread on the table for their families.
As winter sets in and the air quality gets worse, doctors have warned the combination could see a spike in cases.
Dr Tickoo says: "We are in for a double whammy. Air pollution damages lungs and COVID-19 targets it."
The pandemic looms large over this holiday season, but for the moment, the festival of lights has brought a cheer.
https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19...-super-spreading-events-experts-warn-12131763
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India will fly doctors in from other regions, double the number of tests administered and secure more hospital beds in efforts to contain the coronavirus spread in the capital New Delhi, the country’s home minister said, as countries across Asia reported record new coronavirus numbers.
India’s daily cases have seen a steady decline since the middle of September, but its capital New Delhi is battling the latest surge, recording more new cases than any other Indian state.
India registered 30,548 new confirmed coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, taking its total tally to more than 8.84 million. The country of nearly 1.4 billion people is the world’s second-worst affected by COVID-19, after the US. Deaths have reached 130,070.
India’s Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Sunday that the situation in New Delhi is “likely to worsen over next few weeks”.
India will also ask doctors to come out of retirement, conduct door-to-door surveys and increase tracking to fight the spread of the virus in Delhi, Vardhan said.
Experts have attributed the surge to the festive season, dangerous pollution levels and dip in temperatures.
Toxic smog blanketed India’s capital early on Sunday after firecrackers were set off throughout the night to mark the festival of light despite a court ban, further worsening the city’s air quality levels.
Worries over New Delhi’s health infrastructure
Concerns remain over the ability of New Delhi’s health infrastructure to handle the severe caseload.
To tackle the rise in infections, India’s home ministry said it will airlift doctors from other regions to the capital and nearly double the current testing numbers of 60,000 to fight the spread of the virus.
The central government had assured him that more than 700 intensive care unit beds would be made available to cope with the rise in coronavirus cases, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said after meeting Home Minister Amit Shah.
“Amit Shah also directed that the hospital capacity and availability of other medical infrastructure should be ramped up considerably,” the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement on Sunday.
SOURCE : AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES
India’s daily cases have seen a steady decline since the middle of September, but its capital New Delhi is battling the latest surge, recording more new cases than any other Indian state.
India registered 30,548 new confirmed coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, taking its total tally to more than 8.84 million. The country of nearly 1.4 billion people is the world’s second-worst affected by COVID-19, after the US. Deaths have reached 130,070.
India’s Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Sunday that the situation in New Delhi is “likely to worsen over next few weeks”.
India will also ask doctors to come out of retirement, conduct door-to-door surveys and increase tracking to fight the spread of the virus in Delhi, Vardhan said.
Experts have attributed the surge to the festive season, dangerous pollution levels and dip in temperatures.
Toxic smog blanketed India’s capital early on Sunday after firecrackers were set off throughout the night to mark the festival of light despite a court ban, further worsening the city’s air quality levels.
Worries over New Delhi’s health infrastructure
Concerns remain over the ability of New Delhi’s health infrastructure to handle the severe caseload.
To tackle the rise in infections, India’s home ministry said it will airlift doctors from other regions to the capital and nearly double the current testing numbers of 60,000 to fight the spread of the virus.
The central government had assured him that more than 700 intensive care unit beds would be made available to cope with the rise in coronavirus cases, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said after meeting Home Minister Amit Shah.
“Amit Shah also directed that the hospital capacity and availability of other medical infrastructure should be ramped up considerably,” the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement on Sunday.
SOURCE : AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES
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India’s coronavirus cases crossed the nine million mark early on Friday after it recorded more than 45,000 new infections, health ministry figures show.
According to the health ministry update, in addition to exceeding nine million confirmed cases, some 584 deaths were registered in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 132,162.
India is currently witnessing a steady decline in cases from its peak in September, with the country reporting fewer than 50,000 daily new infections during the last 13 days.
The capital New Delhi is, however, witnessing an enormous increase in new cases.
Officials in New Delhi on Thursday quadrupled the fines to 2,000 rupees ($27) for people not wearing face masks, as the government came under an increased pressure to impose another lockdown.
“At times when words alone don’t do the trick, we have to get a bit tougher,” chief minister Arvind Kejriwal told a news conference, also tweeting that the city of 20 million was on a “war footing”.
India imposed one of the world’s strictest lockdowns in March, but the restrictions dealt a severe blow to the economy and the government has since eased them.
Few people wear masks – particularly outside large cities – and in recent weeks shoppers have thronged markets in preparations for a series of religious festivals.
Though new cases in India have dipped to less than half in recent weeks from a peak of 100,000 infections a day in September, authorities fear a surge in coming weeks.
The western city of Ahmadabad late on Thursday announced an indefinite night curfew after reporting an uptick in cases following the Diwali festival weekend. The major city in Gujarat state has recorded approximately 47,000 cases and close to 2,000 deaths.
In Delhi, almost 500,000 people have been fined since June for not wearing masks, 370,000 for ignoring social distancing rules and 3,500 for spitting.
This week the number of cases in the metropolis passed half a million, with a record rise in daily cases and deaths.
More than 90 percent of Delhi intensive case beds with ventilators were occupied as on Thursday, a government mobile app showed.
The problem has been exacerbated by a choking haze and pollution that grips the city this time each year.
“We ran all night from one hospital to another but it was the same story everywhere,” he said, attacking the “unprepared” city government which is working to increase the number of hospital beds.
Kejriwal this week announced that the number of guests at weddings would be cut to 50 and asked the central government for authority to close down markets if they become virus “hotspots”.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/11/20/indias-coronavirus-cases-surpass-9-million
According to the health ministry update, in addition to exceeding nine million confirmed cases, some 584 deaths were registered in the last 24 hours, taking the total to 132,162.
India is currently witnessing a steady decline in cases from its peak in September, with the country reporting fewer than 50,000 daily new infections during the last 13 days.
The capital New Delhi is, however, witnessing an enormous increase in new cases.
Officials in New Delhi on Thursday quadrupled the fines to 2,000 rupees ($27) for people not wearing face masks, as the government came under an increased pressure to impose another lockdown.
“At times when words alone don’t do the trick, we have to get a bit tougher,” chief minister Arvind Kejriwal told a news conference, also tweeting that the city of 20 million was on a “war footing”.
India imposed one of the world’s strictest lockdowns in March, but the restrictions dealt a severe blow to the economy and the government has since eased them.
Few people wear masks – particularly outside large cities – and in recent weeks shoppers have thronged markets in preparations for a series of religious festivals.
Though new cases in India have dipped to less than half in recent weeks from a peak of 100,000 infections a day in September, authorities fear a surge in coming weeks.
The western city of Ahmadabad late on Thursday announced an indefinite night curfew after reporting an uptick in cases following the Diwali festival weekend. The major city in Gujarat state has recorded approximately 47,000 cases and close to 2,000 deaths.
In Delhi, almost 500,000 people have been fined since June for not wearing masks, 370,000 for ignoring social distancing rules and 3,500 for spitting.
This week the number of cases in the metropolis passed half a million, with a record rise in daily cases and deaths.
More than 90 percent of Delhi intensive case beds with ventilators were occupied as on Thursday, a government mobile app showed.
The problem has been exacerbated by a choking haze and pollution that grips the city this time each year.
“We ran all night from one hospital to another but it was the same story everywhere,” he said, attacking the “unprepared” city government which is working to increase the number of hospital beds.
Kejriwal this week announced that the number of guests at weddings would be cut to 50 and asked the central government for authority to close down markets if they become virus “hotspots”.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/11/20/indias-coronavirus-cases-surpass-9-million
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Hospitals in India’s capital near capacity
India has reported 46,232 new confirmed coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, with the situation particularly alarming in New Delhi.
Intensive care wards and the capital’s main crematorium are near capacity, and health officials this week found the prevalence of infections in markets much higher than expected. The city has added an average of 6,700 cases each day in recent weeks.
The next two weeks are going to be important in determining which way the virus will go. The Health Ministry also registered 564 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking total fatalities up to 132,726.
The two states of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have announced night curfews in at least in eight cities from Saturday. Northern Rajasthan state is also imposing restrictions on the assembly of more than four people during nighttime.
India has reported 46,232 new confirmed coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, with the situation particularly alarming in New Delhi.
Intensive care wards and the capital’s main crematorium are near capacity, and health officials this week found the prevalence of infections in markets much higher than expected. The city has added an average of 6,700 cases each day in recent weeks.
The next two weeks are going to be important in determining which way the virus will go. The Health Ministry also registered 564 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking total fatalities up to 132,726.
The two states of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat have announced night curfews in at least in eight cities from Saturday. Northern Rajasthan state is also imposing restrictions on the assembly of more than four people during nighttime.
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India’s Supreme Court has excoriated regional governments, including Delhi’s, over the surge in COVID-19 cases and warned the situation could worsen further if authorities did not effectively deal with the pandemic.
The court, which took up the issue on its own, is seeking status reports from New Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Assam, which have recorded a spike in cases, about the management of patients and steps taken to ease the situation.
“We are hearing of a huge spike in the current month. We want a latest status report from all states. Worse things may happen in December if states aren’t well prepared,” the three-judge bench said, according to broadcaster NDTV.
The judges were particularly concerned about Delhi, which has been topping India in the number of infections and deaths.
“What extra efforts are you taking? … Delhi has to answer a lot of things,” the judges told Delhi government lawyers in court.
India is currently the world’s second-worst-hit country by the pandemic after the US, with more than 9.1 million infections, including 133,738 deaths.
The South Asian country reported 44,059 cases and 551 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the federal health ministry.
More furnaces and pyres were being made available at the main cremation facility in Delhi, which reported 6,746 cases and 121 deaths on Monday.
Last week, the federal government said it would airlift doctors from other regions to the capital and nearly double the current testing numbers of 60,000 to fight the spread of the virus. It also said it would increase the number of ICU beds in the city that has seen nearly 7,000 cases each day for the past several weeks.
The capital city’s government has urged people to follow COVID-19 guidelines as it said the city was witnessing the third wave of the virus that has killed more than a million people worldwide.
The western state of Gujarat was also slammed by the court, which was unhappy that the administration had allowed processions and political events in recent weeks.
Gujarat has also seen a spike in cases, forcing authorities to impose a nighttime curfew in cities like Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Surat and Vadodara.
Experts have attributed the surge to the festive season, dangerous pollution levels and dip in temperatures.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/11/23/indias-top-court-slams-states-for-coronavirus-surge
The court, which took up the issue on its own, is seeking status reports from New Delhi, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Assam, which have recorded a spike in cases, about the management of patients and steps taken to ease the situation.
“We are hearing of a huge spike in the current month. We want a latest status report from all states. Worse things may happen in December if states aren’t well prepared,” the three-judge bench said, according to broadcaster NDTV.
The judges were particularly concerned about Delhi, which has been topping India in the number of infections and deaths.
“What extra efforts are you taking? … Delhi has to answer a lot of things,” the judges told Delhi government lawyers in court.
India is currently the world’s second-worst-hit country by the pandemic after the US, with more than 9.1 million infections, including 133,738 deaths.
The South Asian country reported 44,059 cases and 551 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the federal health ministry.
More furnaces and pyres were being made available at the main cremation facility in Delhi, which reported 6,746 cases and 121 deaths on Monday.
Last week, the federal government said it would airlift doctors from other regions to the capital and nearly double the current testing numbers of 60,000 to fight the spread of the virus. It also said it would increase the number of ICU beds in the city that has seen nearly 7,000 cases each day for the past several weeks.
The capital city’s government has urged people to follow COVID-19 guidelines as it said the city was witnessing the third wave of the virus that has killed more than a million people worldwide.
The western state of Gujarat was also slammed by the court, which was unhappy that the administration had allowed processions and political events in recent weeks.
Gujarat has also seen a spike in cases, forcing authorities to impose a nighttime curfew in cities like Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Surat and Vadodara.
Experts have attributed the surge to the festive season, dangerous pollution levels and dip in temperatures.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/11/23/indias-top-court-slams-states-for-coronavirus-surge
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India's count of cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) crossed 9.2 million on Wednesday after 44,376 infections were recorded in the preceding 24 hours. Also on Wednesday, the Ministry of home affairs (MHA) released a set of new guidelines which will be in effect from December 1 to December 31. The guidelines come amid a sudden surge in cases of Covid-19 in several parts of the country, including Delhi and the national capital region
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One of the developers of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine announced on Friday that India-based drugmaker Hetero will produce more than 100 million doses of the jab.
“Hetero, one of India’s leading generic pharmaceutical companies, have agreed to produce in India over 100 million doses per year of the world’s first registered vaccine against the novel coronavirus infection – Sputnik V,” the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said in a statement, adding that production was expected to start in early 2021.
Earlier this week, Russia said interim results from the Sputnik V clinical trials showed the vaccine was 95 percent effective, similar to other international vaccine makers that have also published test results showing efficacy rates of 90 percent and higher.
Russia also announced the Sputnik V vaccine will be priced at $10 per dose on international markets, costing less than some other registered COVID-19 vaccines.
Russia was the first country to announce the registration of a coronavirus vaccine in August – dubbed Sputnik V after the Soviet-era satellite – but did so ahead of large scale clinical trials.
Currently, the third and final phase of trials is under way, with some 40,000 volunteers involved in blind testing of the vaccine that uses two different human adenovirus vectors.
According to Friday’s statement, their use “allows for a stronger and longer-term immune response” compared with vaccines that use the same vector in both its doses.
Third phase trials are also under way in the ex-Soviet republic of Belarus, the UAE and Venezuela among other countries.
Apart from India, the RDIF says Sputnik V will also be produced in Brazil, China and South Korea.
“I am confident that Sputnik V should become an integral part of the national vaccine portfolio of every country willing to protect its population from the coronavirus,” RDIF head Kirill Dmitriyev was quoted as saying in Friday’s statement.
https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/...-of-sputnik-vaccine?__twitter_impression=true
“Hetero, one of India’s leading generic pharmaceutical companies, have agreed to produce in India over 100 million doses per year of the world’s first registered vaccine against the novel coronavirus infection – Sputnik V,” the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) said in a statement, adding that production was expected to start in early 2021.
Earlier this week, Russia said interim results from the Sputnik V clinical trials showed the vaccine was 95 percent effective, similar to other international vaccine makers that have also published test results showing efficacy rates of 90 percent and higher.
Russia also announced the Sputnik V vaccine will be priced at $10 per dose on international markets, costing less than some other registered COVID-19 vaccines.
Russia was the first country to announce the registration of a coronavirus vaccine in August – dubbed Sputnik V after the Soviet-era satellite – but did so ahead of large scale clinical trials.
Currently, the third and final phase of trials is under way, with some 40,000 volunteers involved in blind testing of the vaccine that uses two different human adenovirus vectors.
According to Friday’s statement, their use “allows for a stronger and longer-term immune response” compared with vaccines that use the same vector in both its doses.
Third phase trials are also under way in the ex-Soviet republic of Belarus, the UAE and Venezuela among other countries.
Apart from India, the RDIF says Sputnik V will also be produced in Brazil, China and South Korea.
“I am confident that Sputnik V should become an integral part of the national vaccine portfolio of every country willing to protect its population from the coronavirus,” RDIF head Kirill Dmitriyev was quoted as saying in Friday’s statement.
https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/...-of-sputnik-vaccine?__twitter_impression=true
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India may not need to vaccinate all of its 1.3 billion people if it manages to inoculate a critical mass and break the transmission of the coronavirus, senior government officials said on Tuesday.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who toured the facilities of three vaccine makers over the weekend, has emphasised the importance of a vaccine to rein in COVID-19.
In October, he said that the government was preparing to reach every single citizen as soon as a vaccine was ready.
World Health Organization experts have pointed to a 65-70 percent vaccine coverage rate as sufficient to reach population immunity.
“The government has never spoken about vaccinating the entire country,” Rajesh Bhushan, the top bureaucrat in India’s federal health ministry, told a news conference on Tuesday without reference to Modi.
India currently has the world’s second-highest number of coronavirus infections, behind only the United States, with 9.46 million cases and 137,621 deaths.
The South Asian nation recorded 31,118 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, the lowest daily tally since November 17, data from the health ministry showed.
“… If we are able to vaccinate a critical mass of people, and break that virus transmission, then we may not have to vaccinate the entire population,” Balram Bhargava, Director General of the state-run Indian Council Of Medical Research, said at the press briefing.
India’s plan to roll out a COVID-19 shot in the first few months of 2021 would not be affected by an alleged adverse reaction during AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine trial, Bhushan said.
A 40-year-old Indian man said in a complaint over the weekend that he had suffered serious “neurological and psychological” symptoms after receiving the vaccine in a trial being run by the British drugmaker’s partner, Serum Institute of India.
The incident is currently under investigation.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020...eed-to-vaccinate-entire-population-to-control
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who toured the facilities of three vaccine makers over the weekend, has emphasised the importance of a vaccine to rein in COVID-19.
In October, he said that the government was preparing to reach every single citizen as soon as a vaccine was ready.
World Health Organization experts have pointed to a 65-70 percent vaccine coverage rate as sufficient to reach population immunity.
“The government has never spoken about vaccinating the entire country,” Rajesh Bhushan, the top bureaucrat in India’s federal health ministry, told a news conference on Tuesday without reference to Modi.
India currently has the world’s second-highest number of coronavirus infections, behind only the United States, with 9.46 million cases and 137,621 deaths.
The South Asian nation recorded 31,118 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, the lowest daily tally since November 17, data from the health ministry showed.
“… If we are able to vaccinate a critical mass of people, and break that virus transmission, then we may not have to vaccinate the entire population,” Balram Bhargava, Director General of the state-run Indian Council Of Medical Research, said at the press briefing.
India’s plan to roll out a COVID-19 shot in the first few months of 2021 would not be affected by an alleged adverse reaction during AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine trial, Bhushan said.
A 40-year-old Indian man said in a complaint over the weekend that he had suffered serious “neurological and psychological” symptoms after receiving the vaccine in a trial being run by the British drugmaker’s partner, Serum Institute of India.
The incident is currently under investigation.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020...eed-to-vaccinate-entire-population-to-control
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New Delhi, India – The Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine producer by volume, has sought government approval for emergency-use authorisation of the coronavirus vaccine that it has developed in partnership with the University of Oxford and British drugmaker AstraZeneca.
“As promised, before the end of 2020, @SerumInstIndia has applied for emergency use authorisation for the first made-in-India vaccine, COVISHIELD,” the company CEO Adar Poonawalla tweeted on Monday.
The experimental vaccine can be stored at two to eight degrees Celsius and can be distributed more easily in India, which has the world’s second-highest number of infections at 9.6 million.
The company has applied to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), with Poonawalla saying the vaccine will “save countless lives” without giving details.
The move comes close on the heels of Pfizer Inc applying for a similar authorisation of its coronavirus vaccine in India on Saturday.
Last month, Pfizer and BioNTech said their experimental vaccine was 90-percent effective while the US biotech firm Moderna Inc said its COVID-19 vaccine showed 94.5 percent effective in preventing COVID-19.
Vaccine trials in India
According to Indian media reports, Serum’s application stated that data from four clinical studies, two in the UK and one each in Brazil and India, showed that the vaccine, Covishield, was highly effective against severe COVID-19 infections.
Last month, a 40-year-old man from the southern city of Chennai had alleged that he suffered serious “neurological and psychological” symptoms after receiving the vaccine in a trial being run by the Serum Institute of India.
But the Indian government last week said it had found no reason to stop the Oxford vaccine trials in India after reviewing the volunteer’s allegation of serious adverse effects. The vaccine is currently in the Phase III clinical trial in India.
After a spike in the daily cases last month, India has seen a drop in the daily infections in the past week several weeks.
India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday said that 512 people died in the last 24 hours taking the total COVID-19 fatalities to 139,700.
On Friday, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi told an all-party meeting that in next few weeks, Indian manufacturers would be able to produce the much-awaited COVID-19 vaccines.
“Experts believe we don’t have to wait for a long period to get a vaccine. It is understood that in next few weeks, Covid vaccines will be ready. The government is waiting for a go-ahead from the scientists,” Modi said during the virtual meeting with leaders from different parties.
He also said that eight COVID-19 vaccines are at different stages of preparedness in India which includes the three indigenous vaccines that are at different stages of trials.
Phase three trials of India’s first indigenous vaccine started last month. Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech company has been developing the vaccine, Covaxin, in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) – India’s premier medical research body.
“The world is looking at a cheap but effective vaccine against COVID-19. The world is looking at India. You can be assured our scientists are working hard,” he said.
‘Scientific scrutiny’
Last month, AstraZeneca said it might have to run an additional global trial to assess the efficacy of its COVID-19 vaccine, after concerns were raised about the effectiveness of its jab. Earlier, the British company said their drug had proved on average 70-percent effective.
Experts warn that before rolling out any vaccine, it should pass through scientific scrutiny.
“Before the government rolls out the vaccine, it must be very much clear to the public – the whole process, the vaccine manufacturing and everything should come out in the scientific papers. It should be provided to the scientific community to scrutinise to see whether they (manufacturers) have rushed to make the vaccine just to get a monetary benefit or just to save the government’s face,” said former president of AIIMS Resident Doctors’ Association (RDA) Harjit Singh Bhatti.
“First it must be done on papers and should given to the scientific community to scrutinise and once it gets approved from the scientific community also, it has build up a confidence in the minds of people, then only a vaccine should come out for public use,” he told Al Jazeera.
Dr Jayaprakash Muliyil, an epidemiologist at the Christian Medical College in southern state of Tamil Nadu, added that it would not be an easy task to carry out the vaccination drive across India.
“It will be logistically very difficult for India to take the vaccine to every village,” he said, adding that the distribution drive “needs a lot of training and the cold chain support needs to be very strong”.
He however, said that a trial should be carried out before using any foreign-made vaccine like Pfizer.
“The regulatory business in India demands that we test it here on Indian population. We need to look for evidence whether this particular vaccine is going to behave the same way in India as it does in other countries,” Muliyil told Al Jazeera.
“As promised, before the end of 2020, @SerumInstIndia has applied for emergency use authorisation for the first made-in-India vaccine, COVISHIELD,” the company CEO Adar Poonawalla tweeted on Monday.
The experimental vaccine can be stored at two to eight degrees Celsius and can be distributed more easily in India, which has the world’s second-highest number of infections at 9.6 million.
The company has applied to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), with Poonawalla saying the vaccine will “save countless lives” without giving details.
The move comes close on the heels of Pfizer Inc applying for a similar authorisation of its coronavirus vaccine in India on Saturday.
Last month, Pfizer and BioNTech said their experimental vaccine was 90-percent effective while the US biotech firm Moderna Inc said its COVID-19 vaccine showed 94.5 percent effective in preventing COVID-19.
Vaccine trials in India
According to Indian media reports, Serum’s application stated that data from four clinical studies, two in the UK and one each in Brazil and India, showed that the vaccine, Covishield, was highly effective against severe COVID-19 infections.
Last month, a 40-year-old man from the southern city of Chennai had alleged that he suffered serious “neurological and psychological” symptoms after receiving the vaccine in a trial being run by the Serum Institute of India.
But the Indian government last week said it had found no reason to stop the Oxford vaccine trials in India after reviewing the volunteer’s allegation of serious adverse effects. The vaccine is currently in the Phase III clinical trial in India.
After a spike in the daily cases last month, India has seen a drop in the daily infections in the past week several weeks.
India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday said that 512 people died in the last 24 hours taking the total COVID-19 fatalities to 139,700.
On Friday, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi told an all-party meeting that in next few weeks, Indian manufacturers would be able to produce the much-awaited COVID-19 vaccines.
“Experts believe we don’t have to wait for a long period to get a vaccine. It is understood that in next few weeks, Covid vaccines will be ready. The government is waiting for a go-ahead from the scientists,” Modi said during the virtual meeting with leaders from different parties.
He also said that eight COVID-19 vaccines are at different stages of preparedness in India which includes the three indigenous vaccines that are at different stages of trials.
Phase three trials of India’s first indigenous vaccine started last month. Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech company has been developing the vaccine, Covaxin, in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) – India’s premier medical research body.
“The world is looking at a cheap but effective vaccine against COVID-19. The world is looking at India. You can be assured our scientists are working hard,” he said.
‘Scientific scrutiny’
Last month, AstraZeneca said it might have to run an additional global trial to assess the efficacy of its COVID-19 vaccine, after concerns were raised about the effectiveness of its jab. Earlier, the British company said their drug had proved on average 70-percent effective.
Experts warn that before rolling out any vaccine, it should pass through scientific scrutiny.
“Before the government rolls out the vaccine, it must be very much clear to the public – the whole process, the vaccine manufacturing and everything should come out in the scientific papers. It should be provided to the scientific community to scrutinise to see whether they (manufacturers) have rushed to make the vaccine just to get a monetary benefit or just to save the government’s face,” said former president of AIIMS Resident Doctors’ Association (RDA) Harjit Singh Bhatti.
“First it must be done on papers and should given to the scientific community to scrutinise and once it gets approved from the scientific community also, it has build up a confidence in the minds of people, then only a vaccine should come out for public use,” he told Al Jazeera.
Dr Jayaprakash Muliyil, an epidemiologist at the Christian Medical College in southern state of Tamil Nadu, added that it would not be an easy task to carry out the vaccination drive across India.
“It will be logistically very difficult for India to take the vaccine to every village,” he said, adding that the distribution drive “needs a lot of training and the cold chain support needs to be very strong”.
He however, said that a trial should be carried out before using any foreign-made vaccine like Pfizer.
“The regulatory business in India demands that we test it here on Indian population. We need to look for evidence whether this particular vaccine is going to behave the same way in India as it does in other countries,” Muliyil told Al Jazeera.
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- Oct 2, 2004
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India outlines plan to vaccinate an initial 300 million people
The country says some COVID-19 vaccines are likely to receive licenses in the next few weeks.
Health officials said three vaccine companies have applied for early approval for emergency use in India: Serum Institute of India, which has been licensed to manufacture the AstraZeneca vaccine, Pfizer Inc., and Indian manufacturer Bharat Biotech.
The country says some COVID-19 vaccines are likely to receive licenses in the next few weeks.
Health officials said three vaccine companies have applied for early approval for emergency use in India: Serum Institute of India, which has been licensed to manufacture the AstraZeneca vaccine, Pfizer Inc., and Indian manufacturer Bharat Biotech.
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India is 20,000 cases short of reaching the 10 million mark as the country recorded more than 22,800 new infections in the past 24 hours, standing firm as the world’s second most affected state in the world after the United States.
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India passes grim milestone of 10 million coronavirus infections
India’s coronavirus tally has breached the 10 million mark, the world’s second-highest, even though the number of new daily cases has fallen sharply since a mid-September peak, Reuters reported.
India reported 25,152 new infections and 347 deaths in the past 24 hours, data from the health ministry showed. The virus has so far killed 145,136 people in the country.
After hitting a peak of nearly 98,000 cases in September, daily cases are now down to an average of 27,000.
India’s coronavirus tally has breached the 10 million mark, the world’s second-highest, even though the number of new daily cases has fallen sharply since a mid-September peak, Reuters reported.
India reported 25,152 new infections and 347 deaths in the past 24 hours, data from the health ministry showed. The virus has so far killed 145,136 people in the country.
After hitting a peak of nearly 98,000 cases in September, daily cases are now down to an average of 27,000.
Slog
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Worst of covid is over in India
finalfantasy7
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Well the first lot has passed, now we will have to see what occurs with the second phase.
Have India announced with what vaccine thr going with and when are they going to start
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India suspends all flights from the UK as concerns grow over new virus strain
MUMBAI (Reuters) - India on Monday announced a suspension of all flights originating from the United Kingdom to the country until the end of the year, amid growing global concerns over a highly infectious new strain of the coronavirus.
The ban will come into effect on Wednesday and all passengers arriving from Britain before then will be tested on arrival at airports, India’s federal aviation ministry said in a series of tweets.
A number of European nations among others have shut off travel ties to Britain after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that the new strain of the coronavirus was a danger to the country.
Britain is one of the 23 countries that India shares an “air bubble” with, as part of temporary bilateral arrangements after regular international flights were suspended after the pandemic hit.
Hours before the aviation ministry’s announcement, India’s health minister said that authorities remained vigilant and prepared to deal with the new virus strain, adding that there was no need to panic.
India has recorded the world’s second highest number of infections and breached the 10 million case milestone over the weekend. More than 145,000 people have died from COVID-19.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...erns-grow-over-new-virus-strain-idUSKBN28V12X
MUMBAI (Reuters) - India on Monday announced a suspension of all flights originating from the United Kingdom to the country until the end of the year, amid growing global concerns over a highly infectious new strain of the coronavirus.
The ban will come into effect on Wednesday and all passengers arriving from Britain before then will be tested on arrival at airports, India’s federal aviation ministry said in a series of tweets.
A number of European nations among others have shut off travel ties to Britain after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that the new strain of the coronavirus was a danger to the country.
Britain is one of the 23 countries that India shares an “air bubble” with, as part of temporary bilateral arrangements after regular international flights were suspended after the pandemic hit.
Hours before the aviation ministry’s announcement, India’s health minister said that authorities remained vigilant and prepared to deal with the new virus strain, adding that there was no need to panic.
India has recorded the world’s second highest number of infections and breached the 10 million case milestone over the weekend. More than 145,000 people have died from COVID-19.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...erns-grow-over-new-virus-strain-idUSKBN28V12X
Manunited18
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Good move, got to protect the Millions and millions of people who live in slums and are badly exposed to this invisible mugger.
finalfantasy7
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20 cases of UK strain found in India as the country steps up testing
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India approves the Oxford vaccine
India's drug regulator has approved the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University for emergency use.
The UK became the first country in the world to grant emergency authorisation for the Oxford/ AstraZeneca vaccine on Wednesday. It had approved Pfizer’s earlier in December.
India is one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic with a reported over 10 million infections and 149,000 deaths to date.
India's drug regulator has approved the coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University for emergency use.
The UK became the first country in the world to grant emergency authorisation for the Oxford/ AstraZeneca vaccine on Wednesday. It had approved Pfizer’s earlier in December.
India is one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic with a reported over 10 million infections and 149,000 deaths to date.
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India has staged nationwide drills to start one of the world’s biggest coronavirus vaccination programmes as the drug regulator prepared to approve the first vaccine.
Saturday’s drills saw 25 health workers receive dummy vaccines at each of the centres to be used across the country in a test run before the launch.
Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the exercise would help build expertise “so that the upcoming vaccination drive may proceed without any glitch”.
He also called for a campaign to counter “misleading rumours” that may scare people off getting the vaccine.
A government panel on Friday recommended emergency use of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca shot and the first injections could be given in the coming week after the Drugs Control Authority of India gives final approval.
India, which has the world’s second-highest number of pandemic cases – more than 10.2 million – has set an ambitious target of inoculating 300 million of its 1.3 billion people by mid-2021.
Serum Institute of India, the world’s biggest vaccine producer, has already stockpiled tens of millions of doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covishield ready for the campaign and 96,000 health workers have been trained for the inoculation drive.
While India is only second to the United States in the number of coronavirus cases, its rate of infection has come down significantly from a mid-September peak of 90,000-plus cases daily and its fatality rate is lower than other badly affected countries.
The United Kingdom and Argentina this week authorised the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine while the World Health Organization on Thursday granted emergency validation to the rival Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Covishield is expected to get more use in India as it can be stored and transported under normal refrigeration while the Pfizer shot needs ultra-low temperatures for storage.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/1/2/india-holds-vaccine-drills-before-mass-inoculation-drive
Saturday’s drills saw 25 health workers receive dummy vaccines at each of the centres to be used across the country in a test run before the launch.
Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said the exercise would help build expertise “so that the upcoming vaccination drive may proceed without any glitch”.
He also called for a campaign to counter “misleading rumours” that may scare people off getting the vaccine.
A government panel on Friday recommended emergency use of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca shot and the first injections could be given in the coming week after the Drugs Control Authority of India gives final approval.
India, which has the world’s second-highest number of pandemic cases – more than 10.2 million – has set an ambitious target of inoculating 300 million of its 1.3 billion people by mid-2021.
Serum Institute of India, the world’s biggest vaccine producer, has already stockpiled tens of millions of doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covishield ready for the campaign and 96,000 health workers have been trained for the inoculation drive.
While India is only second to the United States in the number of coronavirus cases, its rate of infection has come down significantly from a mid-September peak of 90,000-plus cases daily and its fatality rate is lower than other badly affected countries.
The United Kingdom and Argentina this week authorised the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine while the World Health Organization on Thursday granted emergency validation to the rival Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Covishield is expected to get more use in India as it can be stored and transported under normal refrigeration while the Pfizer shot needs ultra-low temperatures for storage.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/1/2/india-holds-vaccine-drills-before-mass-inoculation-drive
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India has formally approved the emergency use of two coronavirus vaccines as it prepares for one of the world's biggest inoculation drives.
The drugs regulatory authority gave the green light to the jabs developed by AstraZeneca with Oxford University and by local firm Bharat Biotech.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called it "a decisive turning point".
India plans to inoculate some 300 million people on a priority list this year.
It has recorded the second-highest number of infections in the world, with more than 10.3 million confirmed cases to date. Nearly 150,000 people have died.
On Saturday India held nationwide drills to prepare more than 90,000 health care workers to administer vaccines across the country, which has a population of 1.3 billion people.
The Drugs Controller General of India said both manufacturers had submitted data showing their vaccines were safe to use.
However, opposition politicians and some doctors have criticised a lack of transparency in the approval process.
"I understand there is a need to go through the process quickly, remove regulatory hurdles," he said. "However... [governments and regulators] have a duty to be transparent about the data they have reviewed and the process involved in making the decision to authorise a vaccine, because if they don't do this, it can affect the public's faith in the process."
The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is being manufactured locally by the Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine manufacturer. It says it is producing more than 50 million doses a month.
Adar Poonawalla, the company's CEO, told the BBC in November that he aimed to ramp up production to 100 million doses a month after receiving regulatory approval.
The jab, which is known as Covishield in India, is administered in two doses given between four and 12 weeks apart. It can be safely stored at temperatures of 2C to 8C, about the same as a domestic fridge, and can be delivered in existing health care settings such as doctors' surgeries.
This makes it easier to distribute than some of the other vaccines. The jab developed by Pfizer/BioNTech - which is currently being administered in several countries - must be stored at -70C and can only be moved a limited number of times - a particular challenge in India, where summer temperatures can reach 50C.
The local vaccine, however, was approved despite the absence of data on how efficient it can be. It has yet to go through large-scale trials.
The Drugs Controller General, V.G. Somani, said Bharat Biotech's Covaxin was "safe and provides a robust immune response".
Mr Somani said it had been approved "in public interest as an abundant precaution, in clinical trial mode, to have more options for vaccinations, especially in case of infection by mutant strains".
India, which makes about 60% of vaccines globally, plans to immunise about 300 million people by July 2021. It will prioritise health care workers, the emergency services, and those who are clinically vulnerable because of age or pre-existing conditions.
India's existing vaccination programme already reaches about 55 million people a year, administering 390 million free jabs against a dozen diseases. It stocks and tracks the vaccines through a well-oiled electronic system.
Pfizer, whose vaccine has already been approved for use in jurisdictions including the UK, the US and the EU, is also seeking emergency authorisation in India.
In all, some 30 vaccine candidates are being developed in India.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-55520658
The drugs regulatory authority gave the green light to the jabs developed by AstraZeneca with Oxford University and by local firm Bharat Biotech.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called it "a decisive turning point".
India plans to inoculate some 300 million people on a priority list this year.
It has recorded the second-highest number of infections in the world, with more than 10.3 million confirmed cases to date. Nearly 150,000 people have died.
On Saturday India held nationwide drills to prepare more than 90,000 health care workers to administer vaccines across the country, which has a population of 1.3 billion people.
The Drugs Controller General of India said both manufacturers had submitted data showing their vaccines were safe to use.
However, opposition politicians and some doctors have criticised a lack of transparency in the approval process.
"I understand there is a need to go through the process quickly, remove regulatory hurdles," he said. "However... [governments and regulators] have a duty to be transparent about the data they have reviewed and the process involved in making the decision to authorise a vaccine, because if they don't do this, it can affect the public's faith in the process."
The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is being manufactured locally by the Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine manufacturer. It says it is producing more than 50 million doses a month.
Adar Poonawalla, the company's CEO, told the BBC in November that he aimed to ramp up production to 100 million doses a month after receiving regulatory approval.
The jab, which is known as Covishield in India, is administered in two doses given between four and 12 weeks apart. It can be safely stored at temperatures of 2C to 8C, about the same as a domestic fridge, and can be delivered in existing health care settings such as doctors' surgeries.
This makes it easier to distribute than some of the other vaccines. The jab developed by Pfizer/BioNTech - which is currently being administered in several countries - must be stored at -70C and can only be moved a limited number of times - a particular challenge in India, where summer temperatures can reach 50C.
The local vaccine, however, was approved despite the absence of data on how efficient it can be. It has yet to go through large-scale trials.
The Drugs Controller General, V.G. Somani, said Bharat Biotech's Covaxin was "safe and provides a robust immune response".
Mr Somani said it had been approved "in public interest as an abundant precaution, in clinical trial mode, to have more options for vaccinations, especially in case of infection by mutant strains".
India, which makes about 60% of vaccines globally, plans to immunise about 300 million people by July 2021. It will prioritise health care workers, the emergency services, and those who are clinically vulnerable because of age or pre-existing conditions.
India's existing vaccination programme already reaches about 55 million people a year, administering 390 million free jabs against a dozen diseases. It stocks and tracks the vaccines through a well-oiled electronic system.
Pfizer, whose vaccine has already been approved for use in jurisdictions including the UK, the US and the EU, is also seeking emergency authorisation in India.
In all, some 30 vaccine candidates are being developed in India.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-55520658
cricketjoshila
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Vaccine inoculation must start in India ASAP, so as to avoid a second wave.
Heard that govt is negotiating with Moderna to find them a production partner in India.
By March, two more vaccines, Novavax and ZyCov-D are expected.
Heard that govt is negotiating with Moderna to find them a production partner in India.
By March, two more vaccines, Novavax and ZyCov-D are expected.
finalfantasy7
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could you please explain this:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-55526123
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2...win-vaccines-triggers-mass-immunisation-drive
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/india-covid-vaccine-covaxin-approval-b1781886.html
Indian would never rush a job - only china and its puppets will rush it
cricketjoshila
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All India Drug Action Network is a little known NGO, nothing else.
Covaxin has been given only conditional approval in clinical trial mode. It has ongoing 3rd phase trials in 12 countries and has provided interim data
Covishield or Oxford vaccine is approved in UK as well.
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India to start COVID-19 vaccination drive from January 16, government says
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India will start its COVID-19 vaccination drive from Jan. 16 with priority given to about 30 million healthcare and frontline workers, a government statement said on Saturday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the preparedness for COVID-19 vaccination programme on Saturday, it said. India hopes to inoculate 300 million of its 1.35 billion people free of charge in the first six to eight months of this year.
With the highest number of infections in the world after the United States, India is developing two indigenous COVID-19 vaccines. On Saturday it reported 18,222 new coronavirus cases, taking the total to 10.43 million.
India’s drug regulator has approved two coronavirus vaccines for emergency use, Covishield, developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and Covaxin by local company Bharat Biotech and a state-run institute.
After healthcare and frontline workers, the vaccines will be given to “those above 50 years of age and the under-50 population groups with co-morbidities, numbering around 2.7 million,” the statement said.
The statement did not say whether the federal government had signed purchase deals with Bharat Biotech and the Serum Institute of India, the local manufacturer of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Modi also reviewed India’s Co-WIN Vaccine Delivery Management System - a digital platform that will provide real time information of vaccine stocks, storage temperature and tracking of beneficiaries, the statement said.
India is the world’s biggest vaccine maker. Its pharmaceutical industry has been freeing up capacity and pushing ahead with investments to help support a global vaccination campaign.
Earlier in the day Modi said India would continue to export medicines, including vaccines, as companies have ramped up production.
“The world is not only waiting for India’s vaccines but is also keenly watching how India handles the world’s biggest vaccination program,” Modi said in an annual address to Indians overseas.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...on-drive-from-jan-16-government-idUSKBN29E0G4
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India will start its COVID-19 vaccination drive from Jan. 16 with priority given to about 30 million healthcare and frontline workers, a government statement said on Saturday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the preparedness for COVID-19 vaccination programme on Saturday, it said. India hopes to inoculate 300 million of its 1.35 billion people free of charge in the first six to eight months of this year.
With the highest number of infections in the world after the United States, India is developing two indigenous COVID-19 vaccines. On Saturday it reported 18,222 new coronavirus cases, taking the total to 10.43 million.
India’s drug regulator has approved two coronavirus vaccines for emergency use, Covishield, developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and Covaxin by local company Bharat Biotech and a state-run institute.
After healthcare and frontline workers, the vaccines will be given to “those above 50 years of age and the under-50 population groups with co-morbidities, numbering around 2.7 million,” the statement said.
The statement did not say whether the federal government had signed purchase deals with Bharat Biotech and the Serum Institute of India, the local manufacturer of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Modi also reviewed India’s Co-WIN Vaccine Delivery Management System - a digital platform that will provide real time information of vaccine stocks, storage temperature and tracking of beneficiaries, the statement said.
India is the world’s biggest vaccine maker. Its pharmaceutical industry has been freeing up capacity and pushing ahead with investments to help support a global vaccination campaign.
Earlier in the day Modi said India would continue to export medicines, including vaccines, as companies have ramped up production.
“The world is not only waiting for India’s vaccines but is also keenly watching how India handles the world’s biggest vaccination program,” Modi said in an annual address to Indians overseas.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...on-drive-from-jan-16-government-idUSKBN29E0G4
This thread was very active when death rates were high but seems to have subsided. Anyways, India today launched worlds biggest vaccine
India begings world's biggest Covid 19 vaccine drive
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the programme, which aims to vaccinate more than 1.3 billion people against Covid.
He paid tribute to front-line workers who will be the first to receive jabs.
India has recorded the second-highest number of Covid-19 infections in the world after the United States.
Millions of doses of two approved vaccines - Covishield and Covaxin - were shipped across the country in the days leading up to the start of the drive.
"We are launching the world's biggest vaccination drive and it shows the world our capability," Mr Modi, said, addressing the country on Saturday morning.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/world-asia-india-55632782
It goes to show why good governance is required in such tough times. A lesson for our first world leaders like Boris, Angela Merkel etc who has no clue how to deal with this pandemic.
India begings world's biggest Covid 19 vaccine drive
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the programme, which aims to vaccinate more than 1.3 billion people against Covid.
He paid tribute to front-line workers who will be the first to receive jabs.
India has recorded the second-highest number of Covid-19 infections in the world after the United States.
Millions of doses of two approved vaccines - Covishield and Covaxin - were shipped across the country in the days leading up to the start of the drive.
"We are launching the world's biggest vaccination drive and it shows the world our capability," Mr Modi, said, addressing the country on Saturday morning.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/world-asia-india-55632782
It goes to show why good governance is required in such tough times. A lesson for our first world leaders like Boris, Angela Merkel etc who has no clue how to deal with this pandemic.
Last edited:
JaDed
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Finally its down to below 10k,
This thread got a lot of replies including myself when things were screwing up but well done , however it is getting done, hoping the vaccination happens before any rise in cases.
This thread got a lot of replies including myself when things were screwing up but well done , however it is getting done, hoping the vaccination happens before any rise in cases.
Slog
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Coronavirus in India is a thing of the past
Slog
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Lol isn’t it normal that a thread or topic will have more views and topics when it’s relevant (150k died after all - no joke) and as it is no longer a raging issue interest subsides .. you guys are making it sound as if there was some conspiracy to malign India lol.
JaDed
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As i said I was replying more to the thread when it was an issue, not a conspiracy but human nature..
Also its pretty good considering how world is still having issues and again this might have absolutely nothing to do with the govnt but just immunity considering protests are still huge..
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Scientists have been left confused by the plummeting rate of coronavirus infections in India - particularly because the country was at one point on course for the biggest toll worldwide.
Nearly 100,000 infections were reported each day during India's peak, but this has taken an unexplained tumble since September to around 11,000 a day.
Official figures in November also showed 90% of New Delhi's critical care beds with ventilators were filled, whereas just 16% were full last Thursday.
Vaccines have so far been ruled out as a reason alone as the country's jab programme didn't begin until January - although this is expected to brighten the outlook even further.
The Indian government has suggested compulsory mask-wearing in public may have helped, especially due to hefty fines that follow violations in some cities.
But experts say it can't only be attributed to masks as declining case numbers appear to be uniform across the country, whereas mask-wearing fluctuates in different areas.
"If we don't know the reason, you could unknowingly be doing things that could lead to a flare-up," said Dr Shahid Jameel, who studies viruses at India's Ashoka University.
Meanwhile, Vineeta Bal, who studies immune systems at India's National Institute of Immunology, said some large areas may have reached herd immunity, although the population as a whole remains vulnerable, particularly in the face of new variants.
A nationwide antibody screening by national health agencies found that one in five Indians had caught the virus before vaccinations had begun - a rate far below the estimated 70% necessary for herd immunity.
Despite this, the survey also showed that more people had been infected in cities rather than villages, and that the virus was moving slower through these rural areas.
"Rural areas have lesser crowd density, people work in open spaces more and homes are much more ventilated," said Dr K Srinath Reddy, president of the Public Health Foundation of India.
Therefore, he added, if some cities are edging toward achieving herd immunity, and also taking precautions with masks and social distancing, then the slower transmission in rural areas of India may provide an explanation for the sudden drop in cases.
India has recorded more than 10.9 million cases and 155,813 deaths since the pandemic began, according to Johns Hopkins University, but it has the world's second-biggest population with more than 1.3 billion residents.
SKY
Nearly 100,000 infections were reported each day during India's peak, but this has taken an unexplained tumble since September to around 11,000 a day.
Official figures in November also showed 90% of New Delhi's critical care beds with ventilators were filled, whereas just 16% were full last Thursday.
Vaccines have so far been ruled out as a reason alone as the country's jab programme didn't begin until January - although this is expected to brighten the outlook even further.
The Indian government has suggested compulsory mask-wearing in public may have helped, especially due to hefty fines that follow violations in some cities.
But experts say it can't only be attributed to masks as declining case numbers appear to be uniform across the country, whereas mask-wearing fluctuates in different areas.
"If we don't know the reason, you could unknowingly be doing things that could lead to a flare-up," said Dr Shahid Jameel, who studies viruses at India's Ashoka University.
Meanwhile, Vineeta Bal, who studies immune systems at India's National Institute of Immunology, said some large areas may have reached herd immunity, although the population as a whole remains vulnerable, particularly in the face of new variants.
A nationwide antibody screening by national health agencies found that one in five Indians had caught the virus before vaccinations had begun - a rate far below the estimated 70% necessary for herd immunity.
Despite this, the survey also showed that more people had been infected in cities rather than villages, and that the virus was moving slower through these rural areas.
"Rural areas have lesser crowd density, people work in open spaces more and homes are much more ventilated," said Dr K Srinath Reddy, president of the Public Health Foundation of India.
Therefore, he added, if some cities are edging toward achieving herd immunity, and also taking precautions with masks and social distancing, then the slower transmission in rural areas of India may provide an explanation for the sudden drop in cases.
India has recorded more than 10.9 million cases and 155,813 deaths since the pandemic began, according to Johns Hopkins University, but it has the world's second-biggest population with more than 1.3 billion residents.
SKY
pillionrider
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It seems to be slowly increasing. Very slowly. But it could be due to more things opening up. Kids are being asked to take exams. Also, for the last month or so, the number of people out in crowded places like markets and streets has increased. Lots have a mask on just for effect - hung at the ears, but draped around their chin.
The reason for the decrease could be the earlier proper use of masks which was quite strictly enforced for the longest time. You even had ridiculous rules of wearing it while driving in your car with marshals fining you if they spotted you without one (at least in my city). The only logic for this I could drum up was - say you stop for some reason and engage with someone outside, searching for and putting on your mask wouldn't be your first thought. Or you might be in a hurry to get out and enter your destination leaving the mask behind in your car. So if it's already on....
I normally would be skeptical of any data provided by this government, but the figures mirror the COVID cases you hear about, around you. During our peak, every other day someone I distantly knew, seemed to be getting it.
Yesterday took my parents for the vaccine. There are two vaccines (Oxford one made in India and an Indian-made one). The government decided that you would not be given a choice on which one to take. But after you've taken it, you get a message informing you about the one received.
My parents received Covishield made by the Serum Institute (Oxford one). You also get a certificate with Modi smiling on it. Like he made the vaccine for you while meditating in the Himalayas
The reason for the decrease could be the earlier proper use of masks which was quite strictly enforced for the longest time. You even had ridiculous rules of wearing it while driving in your car with marshals fining you if they spotted you without one (at least in my city). The only logic for this I could drum up was - say you stop for some reason and engage with someone outside, searching for and putting on your mask wouldn't be your first thought. Or you might be in a hurry to get out and enter your destination leaving the mask behind in your car. So if it's already on....
I normally would be skeptical of any data provided by this government, but the figures mirror the COVID cases you hear about, around you. During our peak, every other day someone I distantly knew, seemed to be getting it.
Yesterday took my parents for the vaccine. There are two vaccines (Oxford one made in India and an Indian-made one). The government decided that you would not be given a choice on which one to take. But after you've taken it, you get a message informing you about the one received.
My parents received Covishield made by the Serum Institute (Oxford one). You also get a certificate with Modi smiling on it. Like he made the vaccine for you while meditating in the Himalayas
It seems to be slowly increasing. Very slowly. But it could be due to more things opening up. Kids are being asked to take exams. Also, for the last month or so, the number of people out in crowded places like markets and streets has increased. Lots have a mask on just for effect - hung at the ears, but draped around their chin.
The reason for the decrease could be the earlier proper use of masks which was quite strictly enforced for the longest time. You even had ridiculous rules of wearing it while driving in your car with marshals fining you if they spotted you without one (at least in my city). The only logic for this I could drum up was - say you stop for some reason and engage with someone outside, searching for and putting on your mask wouldn't be your first thought. Or you might be in a hurry to get out and enter your destination leaving the mask behind in your car. So if it's already on....
I normally would be skeptical of any data provided by this government, but the figures mirror the COVID cases you hear about, around you. During our peak, every other day someone I distantly knew, seemed to be getting it.
Yesterday took my parents for the vaccine. There are two vaccines (Oxford one made in India and an Indian-made one). The government decided that you would not be given a choice on which one to take. But after you've taken it, you get a message informing you about the one received.
My parents received Covishield made by the Serum Institute (Oxford one). You also get a certificate with Modi smiling on it. Like he made the vaccine for you while meditating in the Himalayas
I didn’t know that there was his face on it.
pillionrider
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I didn’t know that there was his face on it.
https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/no-...ation-certificates-in-election-states-2388393
Listen to his speeches through AIR he talks like serum institute was started during his tenure, congress surely missed a trick by not using state controlled media to push their agenda.It seems to be slowly increasing. Very slowly. But it could be due to more things opening up. Kids are being asked to take exams. Also, for the last month or so, the number of people out in crowded places like markets and streets has increased. Lots have a mask on just for effect - hung at the ears, but draped around their chin.
The reason for the decrease could be the earlier proper use of masks which was quite strictly enforced for the longest time. You even had ridiculous rules of wearing it while driving in your car with marshals fining you if they spotted you without one (at least in my city). The only logic for this I could drum up was - say you stop for some reason and engage with someone outside, searching for and putting on your mask wouldn't be your first thought. Or you might be in a hurry to get out and enter your destination leaving the mask behind in your car. So if it's already on....
I normally would be skeptical of any data provided by this government, but the figures mirror the COVID cases you hear about, around you. During our peak, every other day someone I distantly knew, seemed to be getting it.
Yesterday took my parents for the vaccine. There are two vaccines (Oxford one made in India and an Indian-made one). The government decided that you would not be given a choice on which one to take. But after you've taken it, you get a message informing you about the one received.
My parents received Covishield made by the Serum Institute (Oxford one). You also get a certificate with Modi smiling on it. Like he made the vaccine for you while meditating in the Himalayas
Some of the private medical institutes in kerala are providing only covaxin i think they are forced to this otherwise ED will raid their offices to find out unaccounted wealthI didn’t know that there was his face on it.
What an idiot bigot is! What's his contribution in creating this vaccine? A big fat zero! He has this habit of being there on every possible avenue to showcase his punchable face! He is omnipresent on all petrol pumps as well! This creature is worse than Gandhis in being publicity hungry!My parents received Covishield made by the Serum Institute (Oxford one). You also get a certificate with Modi smiling on it. Like he made the vaccine for you while meditating in the Himalayas
EC recently asked his pic to be removed from such certificates in poll bound states.
OMB
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Coronavirus Lockdown 2021 Live News: Need to stop ’emerging second wave’, PM Modi to CMs; 7-day home quarantine for people travelling to Surat
Maharashtra Lockdown Day 3 Live Updates, 2021 Coronavirus Lockdown India Live: So the big question is – will the total lockdown return? That only time will tell. PM Modi has clearly stated that there is no need to panic the citizens and mask discipline should come from within.
Coronavirus Lockdown 2021 in India Live Updates:
It’s official! India is witnessing the second wave of coronavirus. Days after health experts and some officials spoke about it, on Wednesday, the confirmation of the second wave came from the highest office of the Modi government with the Prime Minister himself stating it. During an important, critical virtual meet with all Chief Ministers, PM Modi said that it was necessary to stop the ‘emerging second wave’ of the coronavirus. From ramping up the vaccination to increasing the RT-PCR testing (instead of antigen testing), PM Modi told the states to do whatever necessary to halt this viral surge.
PM Modi also said that the states should focus on smaller towns as these places remain under the radar and can lead to an ‘outbreak-like situation.’ The meeting was not attended by West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel. While Didi reportedly conveyed that she was skipping the meet due to some pre-scheduled appointments. No message was released by Baghel administration. Interestingly, Didi di raise the issue of ‘free corona vaccine’ at a poll rally in Bengal. It coincided with the PM’s Covid meet.
So big question is – will the total lockdown return?
That only time will tell. PM Modi has clearly stated that there is no need to panic the citizens and mask discipline should come from within. However, he has asked the states to take whatever steps necessary.
Maharashtra‘s State Surveillance Office Dr Pradip Awate told the Indian Express on March 16 that it is in fact true that the entire nation is experiencing the second wave.
Maharashtra is has reported over 15,000 cases on a daily basis in March. State capital Mumbai is already in the danger zone with over 1,000 new infections being recorded on daily basis. Pune has also seen the surge. Nagpur became the first city to impose a total lockdown in 2021. The fact remains that while opening up of the economic activities may have helped the businesses in covering up the losses of 2020, the ground reality is that lack of mask discipline and zero social distancing have put people in the dangerous zone of high infection groups. Meanwhile, the AstraZeneca vaccine has been backed by the WHO as safe. With global powers jostling for their share of corona vaccine stockpile, here’s our live blog with all the freshest, official developments on corona lockdowns, curfews and other related news.
https://www.financialexpress.com/lifestyle/health/coronavirus-lockdown-2021-live-news-coronavirus-india-latest-march-17-updates-narendra-modi-covid-lockdown-night-curfew-maharashtra-mumbai-pune-nagpur-uttar-pradesh-ghaziabad-noida-delhi-bengaluru-hyd/2214281/
Maharashtra Lockdown Day 3 Live Updates, 2021 Coronavirus Lockdown India Live: So the big question is – will the total lockdown return? That only time will tell. PM Modi has clearly stated that there is no need to panic the citizens and mask discipline should come from within.
Coronavirus Lockdown 2021 in India Live Updates:
It’s official! India is witnessing the second wave of coronavirus. Days after health experts and some officials spoke about it, on Wednesday, the confirmation of the second wave came from the highest office of the Modi government with the Prime Minister himself stating it. During an important, critical virtual meet with all Chief Ministers, PM Modi said that it was necessary to stop the ‘emerging second wave’ of the coronavirus. From ramping up the vaccination to increasing the RT-PCR testing (instead of antigen testing), PM Modi told the states to do whatever necessary to halt this viral surge.
PM Modi also said that the states should focus on smaller towns as these places remain under the radar and can lead to an ‘outbreak-like situation.’ The meeting was not attended by West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel. While Didi reportedly conveyed that she was skipping the meet due to some pre-scheduled appointments. No message was released by Baghel administration. Interestingly, Didi di raise the issue of ‘free corona vaccine’ at a poll rally in Bengal. It coincided with the PM’s Covid meet.
So big question is – will the total lockdown return?
That only time will tell. PM Modi has clearly stated that there is no need to panic the citizens and mask discipline should come from within. However, he has asked the states to take whatever steps necessary.
Maharashtra‘s State Surveillance Office Dr Pradip Awate told the Indian Express on March 16 that it is in fact true that the entire nation is experiencing the second wave.
Maharashtra is has reported over 15,000 cases on a daily basis in March. State capital Mumbai is already in the danger zone with over 1,000 new infections being recorded on daily basis. Pune has also seen the surge. Nagpur became the first city to impose a total lockdown in 2021. The fact remains that while opening up of the economic activities may have helped the businesses in covering up the losses of 2020, the ground reality is that lack of mask discipline and zero social distancing have put people in the dangerous zone of high infection groups. Meanwhile, the AstraZeneca vaccine has been backed by the WHO as safe. With global powers jostling for their share of corona vaccine stockpile, here’s our live blog with all the freshest, official developments on corona lockdowns, curfews and other related news.
https://www.financialexpress.com/lifestyle/health/coronavirus-lockdown-2021-live-news-coronavirus-india-latest-march-17-updates-narendra-modi-covid-lockdown-night-curfew-maharashtra-mumbai-pune-nagpur-uttar-pradesh-ghaziabad-noida-delhi-bengaluru-hyd/2214281/
OMB
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- Dec 27, 2010
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India records highest 5-day surge in Covid-19 infections since May last year
It should be noted that the daily count of coronavirus cases nearly touched the 40,000-mark on Thursday as 39,670 fresh infections were recorded in the past 24 hours.
New Delhi: In yet another alarming sign, India has recorded the sharpest rise in Covid-19 cases over the past five days for the first time in 10 months. According to a report, the seven-day rolling average of daily infections has risen by as much as 39 per cent during this period.
It should be noted that the daily count of coronavirus cases nearly touched the 40,000-mark on Thursday as 39,670 fresh infections were recorded in the past 24 hours. Alarmingly, this is the highest single-day count of cases since November 28 last year. According to TOI, The seven-day average of daily cases has been growing by over 5 per cent every day. The growth rate in the last five days has been 5.2 per cent, 5.8 per cent, 6.6 per cent, 7.4 per cent and 8.7 per cent.
This has been the sharpest spike in daily cases recorded over a period of five days since the first week of May 2020. It was back between May 19 and 22, when a similar growth was witnessed by India in Covid-19 cases.
As India is witnessing a continuous surge in COVID-19 cases in many of its states, the total number of positive cases in the country has reached 1,14,74,605.
According to a statement issued by the union health ministry, as many as 39,670 new COVID-19 cases and 17,741 recoveries were reported in the country in the last 24 hours. Currently, there are 2,52,364 active cases in India.
The death toll stands at 1,59,216, including 172 in the last 24 hours.
The ministry also informed that at least 23,03,13,163 samples were tested as of Thursday morning.
Meanwhile, the cumulative national positivity rate continues to remain less than five per cent and stands at 4.98 per cent.
As the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive reached its 62nd day, India has administered over 3.89 crore vaccine doses, the ministry said.
Maharashtra reported 25,833 fresh COVID-19 cases, 2,764 discharges and 58 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the state health department. Out of the new cases reported in Maharashtra, 2,877 were reported in Mumbai. As many as 4965 new cases and 31 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours in the Pune district of Maharashtra.
To curb the surge in the COVID-19 cases, the Centre and state authorities are re-introducing lockdowns and night curfews at several cities and districts. Section 144 has been imposed in the Barwani district of Madhya Pradesh. The district administration has also advised the people coming from Maharashtra to stay in seven-day home quarantine mandatorily.
Gujarat government has also instructed the night curfew to remain in force from 9 pm to 6 am in Ahmedabad from Friday. The malls and cinema halls are instructed to remain close on Saturday and Sunday in Ahmedabad.
The administration of Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad districts in Uttar Pradesh's have imposed fresh restrictions under Section 144 of the CrPC.
https://www.timesnownews.com/india/article/india-records-highest-5-day-surge-in-covid-19-infections-since-may-last-year/734338
It should be noted that the daily count of coronavirus cases nearly touched the 40,000-mark on Thursday as 39,670 fresh infections were recorded in the past 24 hours.
New Delhi: In yet another alarming sign, India has recorded the sharpest rise in Covid-19 cases over the past five days for the first time in 10 months. According to a report, the seven-day rolling average of daily infections has risen by as much as 39 per cent during this period.
It should be noted that the daily count of coronavirus cases nearly touched the 40,000-mark on Thursday as 39,670 fresh infections were recorded in the past 24 hours. Alarmingly, this is the highest single-day count of cases since November 28 last year. According to TOI, The seven-day average of daily cases has been growing by over 5 per cent every day. The growth rate in the last five days has been 5.2 per cent, 5.8 per cent, 6.6 per cent, 7.4 per cent and 8.7 per cent.
This has been the sharpest spike in daily cases recorded over a period of five days since the first week of May 2020. It was back between May 19 and 22, when a similar growth was witnessed by India in Covid-19 cases.
As India is witnessing a continuous surge in COVID-19 cases in many of its states, the total number of positive cases in the country has reached 1,14,74,605.
According to a statement issued by the union health ministry, as many as 39,670 new COVID-19 cases and 17,741 recoveries were reported in the country in the last 24 hours. Currently, there are 2,52,364 active cases in India.
The death toll stands at 1,59,216, including 172 in the last 24 hours.
The ministry also informed that at least 23,03,13,163 samples were tested as of Thursday morning.
Meanwhile, the cumulative national positivity rate continues to remain less than five per cent and stands at 4.98 per cent.
As the nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive reached its 62nd day, India has administered over 3.89 crore vaccine doses, the ministry said.
Maharashtra reported 25,833 fresh COVID-19 cases, 2,764 discharges and 58 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the state health department. Out of the new cases reported in Maharashtra, 2,877 were reported in Mumbai. As many as 4965 new cases and 31 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours in the Pune district of Maharashtra.
To curb the surge in the COVID-19 cases, the Centre and state authorities are re-introducing lockdowns and night curfews at several cities and districts. Section 144 has been imposed in the Barwani district of Madhya Pradesh. The district administration has also advised the people coming from Maharashtra to stay in seven-day home quarantine mandatorily.
Gujarat government has also instructed the night curfew to remain in force from 9 pm to 6 am in Ahmedabad from Friday. The malls and cinema halls are instructed to remain close on Saturday and Sunday in Ahmedabad.
The administration of Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad districts in Uttar Pradesh's have imposed fresh restrictions under Section 144 of the CrPC.
https://www.timesnownews.com/india/article/india-records-highest-5-day-surge-in-covid-19-infections-since-may-last-year/734338
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- Mar 19, 2015
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- 15,745
India coronavirus cases surge to four-month high, some lockdowns return
India reported 40,953 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, the biggest daily jump in nearly four months, with its richest state and economic backbone Maharashtra accounting for more than half the infections.
Deaths rose by 188 to 159,404, the health ministry reported, underscoring a resurgence of the virus in the world's third worst affected country, after the United States and Brazil.
Some regions in India have already reimposed containment measures, including lockdowns and restaurant closures, and more are being considered.
Doctors have blamed the fresh infection wave on people's relaxed attitude to mask-wearing and other social distancing measures, warning that hospital wards were swiftly filling up in states like Maharashtra.
Maharashtra reported a record 25,681 cases, including 3,000 in the financial capital of Mumbai, over the past 24 hours.
The state of 112 million people has imposed a lockdown in some districts and put curbs on cinemas, hotels and restaurants until the end of the month. Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray warned that a wider lockdown is an option, according to local media.
The rise in India's COVID-19 cases peaked at nearly 100,000 a day in September, and had been falling steadily until late last month.
In addition to Maharashtra, the Indian states of Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh all reported a surge in new cases.
The capital, New Delhi, has reported a steady rise in infections over the last two weeks, prompting city authorities to scale up an immunisation drive to 125,000 doses per day, from about 40,000.
Many Indians have started questioning the government's highly publicised vaccine exports campaign when only a fraction of the country's 1.35 billion people have been inoculated.
The government has announced plans to inoculate 300 million people, or a fifth of the population, by August. Yet only 42 million have been vaccinated so far, while the world's biggest vaccine maker has gifted or exported almost 60 million doses.
https://www.reuters.com/business/he...-month-high-some-lockdowns-return-2021-03-20/
India reported 40,953 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, the biggest daily jump in nearly four months, with its richest state and economic backbone Maharashtra accounting for more than half the infections.
Deaths rose by 188 to 159,404, the health ministry reported, underscoring a resurgence of the virus in the world's third worst affected country, after the United States and Brazil.
Some regions in India have already reimposed containment measures, including lockdowns and restaurant closures, and more are being considered.
Doctors have blamed the fresh infection wave on people's relaxed attitude to mask-wearing and other social distancing measures, warning that hospital wards were swiftly filling up in states like Maharashtra.
Maharashtra reported a record 25,681 cases, including 3,000 in the financial capital of Mumbai, over the past 24 hours.
The state of 112 million people has imposed a lockdown in some districts and put curbs on cinemas, hotels and restaurants until the end of the month. Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray warned that a wider lockdown is an option, according to local media.
The rise in India's COVID-19 cases peaked at nearly 100,000 a day in September, and had been falling steadily until late last month.
In addition to Maharashtra, the Indian states of Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh all reported a surge in new cases.
The capital, New Delhi, has reported a steady rise in infections over the last two weeks, prompting city authorities to scale up an immunisation drive to 125,000 doses per day, from about 40,000.
Many Indians have started questioning the government's highly publicised vaccine exports campaign when only a fraction of the country's 1.35 billion people have been inoculated.
The government has announced plans to inoculate 300 million people, or a fifth of the population, by August. Yet only 42 million have been vaccinated so far, while the world's biggest vaccine maker has gifted or exported almost 60 million doses.
https://www.reuters.com/business/he...-month-high-some-lockdowns-return-2021-03-20/
finalfantasy7
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has india started giving its own vaccination out yet? if not when does it start? if it has hows it going.
How good is Bharat Biotech's Covaxin?
How good is Bharat Biotech's Covaxin?
Itachi
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A few of my senior colleagues did get the vaccines as they are prioritized.
I haven't any doubt about vaccines but I do suspect how much effective it can be as it was rushed (to be fair, no blaming though since no one could forsee about covid)
finalfantasy7
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not about forseeing covid, its why did they rush it, why aint they still developing it ? read that the 3rd test wasn't a great result/ just like the Chinese vaccination.
How safe is it - are they bad side effects like the Chinese one ?
cricketjoshila
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India has vaccinated 40mn plus doses.
Where did you read that the phase 3 trials didn't have a great result?
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