'The Union government has discouraged state and local governments from imposing restrictions on their own.' 'That advice should be withdrawn,' asserts Mihir S Sharma.
If the government had paid enough to begin with, or if it had made serious advance purchase commitments that allowed the vaccine producers to mobilise necessary investment, then it is possible to imagine more free or subsidised vaccines such as are available in developed economies, asserts Mihir S Sharma.
Prime Minister Modi has said India's vaccine production and delivery capacity will be used for the benefit of all humanity to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. He said last week India was ready to do everything possible for a healthy planet.
"In addition to spreading more quickly, it also now appears that there is some evidence that the new variant - the variant that was first identified in London and the south east (of England) -- may be associated with a higher degree of mortality," Johnson said on Friday in his address at a virtual briefing from 10 Downing Street.
PM Modi said that it was an honour to be a trusted partner during the pandemic adding that the two countries will continue to strengthen cooperation on healthcare.
'Vaccination is very important for an economy to start functioning properly.'
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, 19,01,48,024 samples have been tested up to January 21 with 8,00,242 samples being tested on Thursday.
Serum Institute already has two deals of 100 million each to supply the Oxford-AstraZeneca and the Novavax vaccine to Gavi-Covax at $3 per dose.
A fascinating glimpse from Somak Ghoshal's 10 Indian Heroes Who Help People Live With Dignity.
'The residents are a bit apprehensive about the lack of complete trial in case of Covaxin and might not participate in huge numbers thus defeating the purpose of vaccination. We request you to vaccinate us with Covishield which has completed all stages of trial before its roll-out'
Poonawalla wished the country and Prime Minister Narendra Modi success for the vaccination programme.
Thanking all, including doctors, nurses, healthcare staff, security personnel and journalists, who have been at the frontline in the fight against the pandemic, the minister said they ensured India reaches the stage when vaccine gets delivered to the people.
The EC said that the data should be deleted by health authorities once the vaccination exercise concludes.
'Since the NDA took office in 2014, and aggressively since 2019, the Union government seems hell bent on centralising all power and resources, only to fail spectacularly.'
Millions of people across the country stayed indoors on March 22, 2020 in an unprecedented and overwhelming response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal for the nationwide curfew. People used to come out briefly at 5 pm to show their gratitude to healthcare and other essential service providers with sounds of bells, conches and claps.
Replying to a question at a press conference in New Delhi, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said, "At many places in the world, more than one vaccine are being administered, but presently, in no country, vaccine recipients have the option of choosing the shots."
Addressing a press briefing, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said Zydus Cadila, Sputnik V, Biological E and Gennova are other vaccines also in the pipeline which are in advanced clinical trials in India.
Addressing a press briefing, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said vaccine effectiveness will be seen only after 14 days.
Adar Poonawalla said the real challenge lies in taking the vaccine to the "common man, to the vulnerable groups of people and to healthcare workers".
According to the purchase order placed on Monday, each dose of the vaccine has been priced at Rs 200 and with GST of Rs 10, it would cost Rs 210.
A source closely involved in logistical arrangements said the movement of vaccine doses is likely to start from early Tuesday morning through road and air routes amid elaborate police security.
"The Indian Medical Association has requested all its 3.5 lakh members in 1,800 local branches to voluntarily come out to get vaccinated first to show the world that these vaccines are safe and efficacious," it said.
You need, first of all, to figure out how we messed it all up so badly. You need to fix accountability. None of that is happening, says Vir Sanghvi.
The vaccine maker Bharat Biotech said in a statement that preliminary reviews indicated that the death was unrelated to Covaxin.
Johnson will instead speak to Prime Minister Narendra Modi later this month to launch their plans for the future UK-India partnership, with their physical meeting expected later in the year.
The further distribution of vaccine to the districts will be done as per the registered beneficiaries, for which a separate communication will be done shortly, the letter stated.
The British-Swedish pharmaceutical major and the UK's medicines regulator said that the vaccines produced by Oxford University in collaboration with AstraZeneca to protect against COVID-19 are safe.
In a joint statement posted on their respective twitter accounts, the companies said Serum Institute Chief Executive Officer Adar Poonawalla and Bharat Biotech Chairman Krishna Ella communicated their combined intent to develop, manufacture and supply the COVID-19 vaccines.
Serum Institute of India, the world's largest vaccine manufacturer, has a licence to produce the shot and has already manufactured close to 50 million doses.
TCS was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 2 per cent, followed by ONGC, SBI, L&T, Infosys, HCL Tech, ICICI Bank and Axis Bank. The broader NSE Nifty surged hit a record high of 14,109.40.
Lauding the scientists and technicians for the 'Made in India' vaccines, he said the country is proud of them.
In a series of tweets after the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) approved Oxford's vaccine Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for restricted emergency use, Modi said it will make every Indian proud that both the vaccines are made in India.
The more people get vaccinated, the better it will be for the country and the economy, the National Conference vice president said.
Covaxin has been indigenously developed by Bharat Biotech in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research.
Dr Sumit Paul wrote about the life-transforming lesson he learnt from his Oxford professor.
The Serum Institute of India, Bharat Biotech and Pfizer have applied to the DCGI seeking emergency use authorisation for their COVID-19 vaccine candidates and are awaiting approval.
Among major Sensex movers, Ultratech Cement rose over 4 per cent, Bajaj Finance by 2.63 per cent and Maruti by 2 per cent. BSE Sensex closed up by 133.14 points at a record high of 47,746.22. NSE Nifty rose by 49.35 points at its lifetime high of 13,981.95.
The PM-CARES fund, which has been set up to provide relief during the coronavirus pandemic, has contributed over Rs 2,200 crore for the first phase of vaccination drive, which is looking to inoculate frontline healthcare workers, the Expenditure Secretary said on Tuesday.
During the webinar, 'COVID-19: Vaccination and Potential Return to Normalcy - If and When', Dr Hotez, an internationally-recognised physician-scientist in neglected tropical diseases and vaccine development, said that the COVID-19 vaccine rollout is "India's gift' to the world in combating the virus.
Communications between the USTR and the world's most powerful pharmaceutical and trade lobbying groups reveal that many raised concerns about India's push to exempt Covid vaccines from intellectual property.
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