Research indicates that emerging COVID-19 variants may be able to escape the protection offered by antibodies and vaccines. The research, conducted by the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis in the U.S., studied COVID-19 variants first identified in Brazil, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. As explained in a release, the “research…indicates that […]
COVID-19
Vaccination campaign ramps up in India
India’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign has scaled up substantially in the last two days, a boon in the fight against the pandemic. Wednesday saw almost ten lakh shots administered and Thursday almost eleven lakh given out. This marks a significant increase from the recent average of approximately five lakh doses given out a day. The uptick […]
Covaxin shows promising results in trials
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 […]
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 […]
COVID-19 lockdowns reduced concentration of air pollutants in Indian cities
For a crisis of such a magnitude as COVID-19, it seems arguably grotesque to seek out a silver lining. However, it is undeniable that India’s lockdowns in response to the pandemic had a positive impact when it came to air pollution. Five cities with ordinarily high rates of pollution showed a temporary reduction in particulate […]
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 […]