Budget 2018-19

  Covid-19 vaccines for younger children and booster shots for at least those over 65 years old are being prepared in accordance with a tight schedule in the US Covid-19 vaccines for younger children and booster shots for at least those over 65 years old are being prepared in accordance with a tight schedule in the US, as the Americans stagger into the 19th month of their fierce battle against the pandemic. A lower dose of the  Pfizer-BioNTech  coronavirus vaccine, one-third the amount given to adults and teens, is safe and triggered a robust immune response in children as young as five years old, the drug companies announced in a news release on Monday morning. “The finding, eagerly anticipated by many parents and paediatricians, is a crucial step toward the two-shot coronavirus vaccine regimen becoming available for younger school-aged children, perhaps close to Halloween,” Xinhua news agency quoted The Washington Post as saying on Monday. However, the companies must pr...

  Amid surging Delta variant cases in the US, COVID-19 vaccines for children younger than 12 years could be available by the end of next month, a media report has said. Amid surging  Delta variant  cases in the US, COVID-19 vaccines for children younger than 12 years could be available by the end of next month, a media report has said. A report in The New York Times quoted two health experts as saying that COVID vaccines for children aged 5 to 11 could be available as soon as the end of October, bringing relief to parents of younger children since vaccines are only available for children aged 12 and above. The NYT report quoted Dr. Scott Gottlieb, a former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration who also sits on the board of Pfizer, as saying that getting the green light for younger children will require careful and expeditious review of the clinical data. Gottlieb said on the CBS show Face the Nation that in a best-case scenario, the  Pfizer  vaccine c...

  Covid vaccine doses will be administered on a priority basis to all those going abroad for studies and jobs Covid vaccine doses will be administered on a priority basis to all those going abroad for studies and jobs from Karnataka, Deputy Chief Minister C.N. Ashwath Narayana said on Monday. “The National Health Mission (NHM) has added students and persons going abroad for higher studies and jobs in the revised list of preferential groups for vaccination from June 1,” Narayan told reporters here. The vaccination campaign for students and workers going to foreign countries will be launched at the Bengaluru City University from Tuesday. “The NHM has also included workers of milk cooperative societies and cable operators in the priority list for vaccination,” Narayan said. Those going overseas will have to show their visa, admission receipt, job order and relevant documents to get inoculated on a priority basis. District commissioners across the state have been instructed to issue el...

  North Korea has contended that some nations are hoarding stock of vaccines while others are suffering from a lack of supplies North Korea has slammed some countries for storing an excessive stock of COVID-19 vaccines while others suffer from a lack of supplies. In an official statement presented at the 74th World Health Assembly last week, North Korea also urged the World Health Organization (WHO) to help achieve a fair distribution of the vaccines across the globe. “The development of  COVID-19 vaccines  and medicines might be the achievement for the common mankind whereas an unfair reality is to be seen that some countries are procuring and storing the vaccines more than its needs by inspiring the vaccine nationalism plainly when other countries can’t even procure it with their affordability,” it said, reported Yonhap News Agency. Critising further Pyongyang also alleged countries for engaging in “national egoism with the vaccine and making bottleneck for the mass pro...

  Suitable for 12 yrs and above, Pfizer tells govt Seeking a fast-track approval for its COVID-19 vaccine, US major Pfizer has told Indian authorities that its jab has shown “high effectiveness” against the SARS-CoV-2 variant prevalent in India and on people of Indian ethnicity or nationality, while it is suitable for everyone aged 12 years or above and can be stored for a month at 2-8 degrees, sources said on Wednesday. Pfizer, which is ready to offer 5 crore doses to India between July and October this year and has sought certain relaxations including indemnification, has held a series of interactions with the Indian government authorities recently including one this week, during which it shared the most recent data points regarding efficacy trials and approvals for its vaccine in various countries and by the World Health Organisation (WHO). “The current situation in India, and across the world, is not business as usual’ and we must not respond to it with processes as usual too,”...

  The Serum Institute of India said on Wednesday it would sell the AstraZeneca vaccine to the country’s state governments at 400 rupees per dose and to private hospitals at Rs 600 rupees NEW DELHI (Reuters) – The Serum Institute of India said on Wednesday it would sell the AstraZeneca vaccine to the country’s state governments at 400 rupees ($5.30) per dose and to private hospitals at 600 rupees ($7.95). “Furthermore, owing to the complexity, and urgency of the situation it is challenging to supply it independently to each corporate entity,” it said in a statement. “We would urge all corporate and private individuals to access the vaccines through the state facilitated machinery and private health systems.” ($1 = 75.4620 Indian rupees) (Reporting by Krishna N. Das and Euan Rocha, editing by Louise Heavens)

  Spot gold eased 0.2% to $1,803.51 per ounce by 0327 GMT. On Tuesday, it had hit its lowest level since July 17 at $1,800.01   (Reuters) - Gold languished near a four-month low on Wednesday as appetite for riskier assets remained buoyed by the formal start of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden's transition to the White House and hopes a COVID-19 vaccine would be ready soon. Spot gold eased 0.2% to $1,803.51 per ounce by 0327 GMT. On Tuesday, it had hit its lowest level since July 17 at $1,800.01. U.S. gold futures dipped 0.1% to $1,803.20. "We are moving into a new phase in gold as vaccine developments are changing the regime of pandemic-caused disruptions and headwinds to growth that gold markets were pricing in," said Lachlan Shaw, National Australia Bank's head of commodity research. "If U.S. real long yields range trade around current levels, it's difficult to see gold breaking out and then sustaining a strong rally towards $1,900 and $2,000." U.S. Pres...

  The European Commission will sign a deal to secure up to 300 million doses of the experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by BioNTech and Pfizer The European Commission will sign a deal to secure up to 300 million doses of the experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by BioNTech and Pfizer. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the EU’s executive arm, said the commission will authorize the deal on Wednesday after working tirelessly to secure doses of potential vaccines in recent months. This is the most promising vaccine so far, von der Leyen said. Once this vaccine becomes available, our plan is to deploy it quickly, everywhere in Europe. Pfizer said Monday that early results from the vaccine suggests the shots may be a surprisingly robust 90% effective at preventing COVID-19. The European Commission had already secured three other deals with pharmaceutical companies allowing its 27 member states to buy nearly one billion doses of a potential  coronavirus vaccine. And...

  Indonesia will at the first phase provide the Covid-19 vaccine to 9.1 million people between November and December 2020 Indonesia will at the first phase provide the COVID-19 vaccine to 9.1 million people between November and December 2020, the Health Ministry’s Disease Control and Prevention Director General Achmad Yurianto said. The first phase of vaccination will be carried out on the groups of people with highest risk of COVID-19 infections, namely medical and public service workers including airport employees, soldiers and police personnel, Xinhua news agency reported on Monday. Yurianto said that the vaccine would only be given to people aged between 18 years old and 59 years old, because clinical trials of vaccine candidates in the world have yet to target categories outside that age range. The vaccination will be carried out after the Indonesian Drug and Food Supervisory Agency (BPOM) issues an emergency use authorization and the Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) provides ha...