Budget 2018-19

  Hunting for variants requires a concerted effort. South Africa and the UK were the first big countries to implement nationwide genomic surveillance efforts for SARS-CoV-2 as early as April 2020. Since early in the COVID pandemic, the Network for Genomics Surveillance in South Africa has been monitoring changes in SARS-CoV-2. This was a valuable tool to understand better how the virus spread. In late 2020, the network detected a new virus lineage, 501Y. V2, which later became known as the beta variant. Now a new SARS-CoV-2 variant has been identified – B.1.1.529. The World Health Organisation has declared it a variant of concern, and assigned it the name  Omicron . To help us understand more, The Conversation Africa’s Ozayr Patel asked scientists to share what they know. What’s the science behind the search? Hunting for variants requires a concerted effort. South Africa and the UK were the first big countries to implement nationwide genomic surveillance efforts for  SARS...

  AIIMS survey finds over 50% children had asymptomatic Covid infection It’s highly unlikely that any future wave of Covid-19 by the prevailing variants of coronavirus will disproportionately affect children aged two years or older, a serosurvey conducted by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, has found. This comes against the backdrop of a number of officials and health experts raising an alarm about the possible third wave affecting children more than adults. AIIMS collected data between March 15 and June 10, 2021, from 4,509 participants across four states, of which 700 were less than 18 years of age and 3,809 were above it. The interim study found seroprevalence (the prevalence of Covid antibodies) in 55.7 per cent of those between 2 and 17 years of age, and in 63.5 per cent of those above 18. “There was no statistically significant difference in prevalence between adults and children,” the study said. A large proportion of children had asymptomatic...

  This despite the prime minister suggesting such a move be the last resort to curb the spread of Covid-19 In early April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told chief ministers in an interaction that lockdowns were a tool of last resort in handling the Covid-19 pandemic and entirely avoidable if a strategy of micro-containment was followed. He followed this up with similar advice on April 20 when he repeated his suggestion that micro-containment should be the preferred option. But either the PM’s advisers were out of touch with the reality on the ground or it was an unworkable suggestion: Because within days of the PM’s advice, several states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — and the opposition — resorted to precisely this measure to curb the rates of infection in their state. Most states have termed these curfews, but the curbs are akin to a lockdown. Gujarat was the only BJP-ruled exception that followed the PM’s lead faithfully. Although the state continues to report aroun...

  The Biden administration has conveyed to New Delhi that it understands India’s pharmaceutical requirements and promised to give the matter a due consideration The Biden administration has conveyed to New Delhi that it understands India’s pharmaceutical requirements and promised to give the matter a due consideration, observing that the current difficulty in the export of critical raw materials needed to manufacture COVID-19 vaccines is mainly due to an Act that forces American companies to prioritise domestic consumption. President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump had invoked the war-time Defence Production Act (DPA) that leaves US companies with no option but to give priority to the production of COVID-19 vaccines and Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) for domestic production to combat the deadly pandemic in America, the worst-hit nation. Since the US has ramped up the production of  COVID-19 vaccines  mostly by Pfizer and Moderna so as to meet the goal of ...

  Long queues of vehicles could be seen in the border areas since morning as Karnataka authorities sealed many roads With the Karnataka government reinstating stricter control of transit passengers from Kerala in view of increasing Covid-19 positive cases, people here bound to Mangaluru and other parts of Dakshina Kannada for various purposes including medical needs and studies are in a fix again. Long queues of vehicles could be seen in the border areas since morning as Karnataka authorities sealed many roads including national highways and restricted entry only for those with Covid-19 negative certificates. The Dakshina Kannada authorities sealed all borders from Monday except four to cross over, sources said. According to Karnataka officials at the borders, those who wish to enter have to produce  Covid-19  negative certificate through an RT-PCR test taken 72 hours prior to their cross over time. Health and police personnel are on duty at the four borders, viz.Talapady...

  The Therapeutic Goods Administration on Monday gave provisional approval for people aged 16 and over to use the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech Australia’s medical regulator has approved use of its first coronavirus vaccine, paving the way for inoculations to begin next month. The Therapeutic Goods Administration on Monday gave provisional approval for people aged 16 and over to use the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech. The regulator said priority would be given to groups that include aged-care residents and workers, frontline healthcare workers, and quarantine workers. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison welcomed the development. He said Australia was among the first countries to complete a comprehensive and thorough process to formally approve a vaccine rather than just grant an emergency approval. Australia is aiming to complete inoculations by October. The nation of 26 million people has reported fewer than 30,000 virus cases and a little over 900 deaths...

  The city’s Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal and his deputy Suresh Kakani, who’s in charge of the vaccination drive, spoke in separate interviews this week India’s business and financial hub Mumbai, once the country’s coronavirus hotspot, is building facilities to store 10 million doses of the vaccine as it aims to open fully from a strict lockdown. The city’s Municipal Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal and his deputy Suresh Kakani, who’s in charge of the vaccination drive, spoke in separate interviews this week before the start of a nationwide rollout on Saturday. Their responses are edited for clarity. Q. What’s the plan? Chahal:  Mumbai’s population that comes under the Municipal Corporation is about 15 million. We plan to create vaccine storage capacity of a little more than 10 million, which will be adequate as the vaccination will be done in phases. We have formed 500 teams, each having two vaccinators, two support staff and one security guard. They will initiall...

  The media and opposition figures have justifiably asked why Bharat Biotech’s candidate was approved at the same time as AstraZeneca’s, when it hasn’t even finished or published results from Stage III The Indian state faces one of the world’s most formidable challenges: rolling out a Covid-19 vaccination program for 1.3 billion people. To succeed, many things have to go right in a country that usually gets a lot wrong. The government would be wise to enlist the country’s private sector in this gargantuan effort — and soon. The vaccine rollout is already off to a shaky start. The government last week announced emergency approval for two vaccines. The first, a joint effort from AstraZeneca PLC and Oxford University, is being produced by the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer. The other has been developed by the Indian company Bharat Biotech International Ltd. The media and opposition figures have justifiably asked why Bharat Biotech’s candidate was ap...

  Shots are rolling out from Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc., focused at first on hundreds of thousands of health-care workers around the country The U.S. now leads the world in Covid-19 vaccine shots administered, with more than 1.12 million doses given in the first 10 days of its campaign, according to state-by-state data compiled by Bloomberg. Three states have now vaccinated more than 1% of their populations: North Dakota, West Virginia, and Alaska. California leads in total vaccinations at 128,000 shots. The numbers fall short of a U.S. goal to administer 20 million shots in 2020, U.S. officials acknowledged Wednesday. That amount will be disbursed to states by the end of the month, but not in time to be administered. Shots are rolling out from Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc., focused at first on hundreds of thousands of health-care workers around the country who have been battling the virus on the front lines in hospitals. The vaccines require two shots weeks apart to deliver the h...

  Chinese vaccine developers have been slow compared with their western peers in releasing efficacy data on their shots A Covid-19 vaccine developed by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac Biotech Ltd. was found to be more than 50% effective in a Brazilian clinical trial, though researchers delayed releasing more information at the request of the company. A 50% efficacy rate is a minimum standard set by U.S. regulators for emergency authorization of Covid vaccines. Messenger RNA vaccines from Moderna Inc. and Pfizer Inc. have produced far better results, reducing symptomatic Covid cases by well over 90% in giant trials. Chinese vaccine developers have been slow compared with their western peers in releasing efficacy data on their shots. As millions of healthy people count on transparency in trials before taking a shot, the lack of more specific results from Sinovac’s trial risks eroding confidence in vaccines from China. Hong Kong on Wednesday said residents will be allowed to choos...

  The health regulator in a statement referred to the “incident”, that occurred on October 29, without revealing further information Brazil’s health regulator Anvisa said on Monday it has suspended clinical trials of China’s Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine, following a “severe incident”.The health regulator in a statement referred to the “incident”, that occurred on October 29, without revealing further information. “National Health Surveillance Agency ANVISA has temporarily suspended human testing of the Chinese vaccine Coronavac due to ‘a serious adverse effect,'” Sputnik reported, citing Anvisa’s statement. President Jair Bolsonaro on Monday had said that their government would buy whatever coronavirus vaccine is certified by Anvisa. Brazil’s move to suspend the clinical trials of the Chinese vaccine comes amid a rising number of coronavirus cases. On Monday, the country registered 10,917 new cases, taking the country’s tally to 5,590,025, while deaths rose to 161,106. The setback for ...

  India has reached a recovery rate of 90 per cent and the positivity rate has declined to around 7.61 per cent. The central government on Tuesday asked states not declare any place free of the coronavirus and take a national approach to a future vaccine, reacting after free inoculation politics gathered pace in Bihar and Tamil Nadu. “The statements of the state governments have to be respected. From our end we are trying to fine tune the blueprints for vaccine distribution. Preparations are being made,” said V K Paul, member of  NITI Aayog  and chairman of the government’s committee on vaccines. Paul’s statement came as the number of coronavirus cases in India in a single day dropped below 40,000 on Tuesday after over three months. Paul said resources will not be an issue when it comes to accessing the coronavirus vaccine, reacting to a question on whether the inoculation will be free. “Prioritisation will be done based on availability. Vaccine scenario is very dynamic a...

  In the absence of significant national opposition, voters have been willing to give Modi a very long leash India is battling one of the world’s highest coronavirus caseloads, its worst-ever economic slump, shuttered factories, farmer protests and the deadliest border fighting with China in decades. Yet Prime Minister  Narendra Modi  appears to remain as popular as ever. Opinion polls in Bihar, where from Oct. 28 to Nov. 7 he faces his first major electoral test since the pandemic, show his coalition comfortably retaining control of the state government. A separate India Today “Mood of the Nation” poll in August said 78% rated his performance as “good to outstanding” compared with 71% last year. One of those supporters is Sanjay Kumar, 22, a carpenter who was beaten by police in April for violating India’s strict lockdown while cycling from the capital New Delhi to his village in Bihar — a journey of more than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) — after he lost his job. He’s st...

  Moderna COVID-19 vaccine appears safe, shows signs of working in older adults – study CHICAGO (Reuters) – Results from an early safety study of Moderna Inc’s coronavirus vaccine candidate in older adults showed that it produced virus-neutralizing antibodies at levels similar to those seen in younger adults, with side effects roughly on par with high-dose flu shots, researchers said on Tuesday. The study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, offers a more complete picture of the vaccine’s safety in older adults, a group at increased risk of severe complications from COVID-19. The findings are reassuring because immunity tends to weaken with age, Dr. Evan Anderson, one of the study’s lead researchers from Emory University in Atlanta, said in a phone interview. The study was an extension of Moderna’s Phase I safety trial, first conducted in individuals aged 18-55. It tested two doses of  Moderna’s vaccine  – 25 micrograms and 100 micrograms – in 40 adults aged...