Covaxin, India’s homegrown COVID-19 vaccine candidate, has shown promising results in interim phase-III trials. The vaccine, manufactured by Hyderabad, Telangana-headquartered firm Bharat Biotech, demonstrated an almost 81 percent interim clinical efficacy according to the company following the release of results from the interim phase-III trials on Wednesday. “Covaxin demonstrates high clinical efficacy trend against COVID-19 […]
coronavirus
COVID-19 cases up by seventeen lakh
India’s COVID-19 cases increased by more than seventeen lakh on Wednesday, the highest in 53 days. The spurt in COVID-19 cases came alongside 89 daily new fatalities. India’s active COVID-19 caseload represents 1.55 percent of total infections according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Upticks in new cases are being seen in […]
Zero discrimination when it comes to health worldwide
Winnie Byanyima, executive director of UNAIDS and under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, has issued a forceful call for equity in global access to COVID-19 vaccines, urging zero discrimination when it comes to health. Her message comes on the occasion of Zero Discrimination Day, where “UNAIDS is highlighting the urgent need to take action to end […]
Mutations detected in COVID-19 variants in India
Indian researchers have identified more than 24,000 mutations in well in excess of 7,000 variants of COVID-19 circulating in India, IANS reports. Multiple countries have identified new variants of COVID-19, among them the United Kingdom, Japan, Brazil, and South Africa. The detection of new variants, many of which are considered to be more transmissible and […]
Active COVID-19 cases below 1.5 lakh
The number of active COVID-19 cases in India has fallen to below 1.5 lakh according to official figures. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Tuesday that active COVID-19 cases comprise just 1.34 percent of the total number of confirmed cases of the disease. In 21 states and union territories, no deaths […]
UN peacekeepers get vaccine boon from India
A spokesperson for United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres has expressed that the Secretary-General is “extremely grateful” after India granted UN peacekeepers 200,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses. Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar announced the gift during a meeting of the UN Security Council. India, Jaishankar said, has already supplied vaccines to 25 countries and anticipates […]
Vaccine stockpiling flagged by group
An anti-poverty advocacy group has flagged COVID-19 vaccine stockpiling by high-income countries in a new report. An analysis by the ONE Campaign, a movement which seeks to end poverty and preventable disease by 2030, said a cohort of wealthy nations had stockpiled more than a billion COVID-19 vaccine doses than required. The report examined contracts […]
Vaccine nationalism controversy continues with UN outcry
The controversy over so-called ‘vaccine nationalism’ continues. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called out in harsh terms unequal distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, at the expense of poorer nations. In remarks delivered to a high-level Security Council meeting, Guterres lambasted that the “progress on vaccinations has been wildly uneven and unfair. Just ten countries have administered […]
COVID-19 cases much higher than official figures?
A study of Karnataka households suggests India’s true number of COVID-19 cases during the pandemic may be markedly higher than the official tally. The research, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, collected data from a representative sample of households spanning twenty districts of the southern state, SciDev reports. The research indicated that […]
Where is India in its fight against COVID-19?
Amidst its ongoing fight against COVID-19, a considerable drop in cases in India has been observed over the past few months. However, while there is some cautious optimism, the emergence of new variants is cause for concern. India’s fight against COVID-19: Why are cases dropping? Each day, at the peak of its outbreak, the country […]