Coronavirus vaccine news highlights: Nearly 10 lakh vaccinated against Covid-19 in India

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. Russia said it could supply Hungary with its Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine from next month, after Budapest gave initial approval to the shot, which was also registered for domestic use on Thursday by the United Arab Emirates.

Russia is seeking international endorsement for Sputnik V, named after the satellite that triggered the Cold War space race, and is steadily building up its global customer base. It has signed numerous supply deals and regulators in eleven countries have now granted approval for the shot's domestic use.

. Till 6 pm of 21st January, a total of 9,99,065 beneficiaries have been vaccinated against Covid-19 across the country for which total of 18,159 sessions have been held: Manohar Agnani, Additional Secretary, Union Health Ministry

. The provisional figures for today, up to 6 pm - vaccination sessions were organised in 27 states and UTs and a total of 1,92,581 beneficiaries were vaccinated today: Manohar Agnani, Additional Secretary, Union Health Ministry

. AAP MLA Raghav Chadha inspected the coronavirus vaccination drive at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital at his constituency in Delhi on Thursday.

Chadha said the vaccination process was smooth and seamless with almost 100 healthcare workers being vaccinated daily at this facility.

"Covid-19 vaccine is safe. Please do not fall for rumour-mongering," Chadha said in a statement. "Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will provide 'Suraksha Kavach' (protective shield) in the form of vaccine to every Delhiite," Chadha.

. South Africa will pay $5.25 per dose for 1.5 million shots of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine from the Serum Institute of India (SII), a senior official said on Thursday, more than some wealthier countries are paying.

Health department Deputy Director-General Anban Pillay told Reuters that SII's price was based on South Africa's status as an upper-middle-income country under a World Bank classification.

The price is higher than the $3 a dose that South Africa and other countries on the continent are due to pay for the same vaccine under an African Union (AU) arrangement, and the 2.5 euros ($3.03) per dose European Union countries have agreed to pay.

. Only 56 per cent of British Indians would take a vaccine to protect against Covid-19 and women fall within the significantly less likely to be open to a jab over fertility concerns, a new survey by a think tank led by Oxford University experts said on Thursday.

The research by the 1928 Institute, a platform created to research and reflect the views of British Indians as the UK’s largest ethnic minority group, follows concerns about a lower uptake of Covid-19 jabs among Britain’s ethnic minority populations and is calling on the authorities to fund a clear and concerted public health campaign tailored to the British Indian community.

. Five bodies have been recovered after a fire broke out at the Serum Institute of India complex in Pune on Thursday.

. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will interact with beneficiaries and vaccinators of the Covid-19 inoculation drive in Varanasi on Friday via video conferencing.

The participants in the interaction will share their first hand experience of vaccination, the Prime Minister's Office said on Thursday.

. From keeping coronavirus vaccines cold in tropical temperatures to ensuring they reach remote islands, a top drug distributor is gearing up for major challenges in shipping shots across Asia.

Only a few countries in the region, which has generally not been as badly affected by Covid-19 as many parts of the West, have started inoculation drives in earnest.

But campaigns are expected to be ratcheted up in the coming months and distributors will face a major test.

. The Uttar Pradesh authorities hope to vaccinate around 1.5 lakh health workers on Friday, the second day of the Covid vaccination drive in the state.

"The second leg of the Covid-19 vaccination will be held on Friday. Around 1,400 to 1,500 booths have been made in the state for the vaccination of health workers," Principal Secretary (Health) Alok Kumar told reporters.

The vaccination drive had started on January 16 and on the first day, over 20,000 health care workers were vaccinated at 317 centres across the state.

. India has handed over 2 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to Bangladesh under grant assistance, a senior minister said on Thursday.

. Bangladesh and Nepal on Thursday received Covid-19 vaccines from India under grants assistance.

"Nepal receives Indian vaccines. Putting neighbours first, putting people first!," External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Twitter.

. The state intensified the ongoing inoculation drive by setting a target of administering Covid-19 vaccines to 37,076 frontline workers, comprising health and sanitation workers in 436 session sites. In a span of four days till Wednesday, 68,743 people have received the jabs, Health Director Bijay Kumar Panigahi said.

. The United Arab Emirates on Thursday said it has approved Russia's Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine, state media reported citing the ministry of health, marking the third vaccine to be approved by the UAE.

"Study results have demonstrated the effectiveness of the vaccine in triggering a strong antibody response against the virus, its safety for use, and its compliance with international safety and effectiveness standards," the statement said.

The UAE hosted Phase III clinical trials for the vaccine.

. Hungary's drug regulator has given preliminary approval for the use of the coronavirus vaccine made by AstraZeneca and also Russia's Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff said on Thursday, confirming media reports.

Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto was travelling to Moscow for talks about the coronavirus vaccine later on Thursday, Gergely Gulyas said.

. The United States under President Joe Biden intends to join the COVAX vaccine facility that aims to deliver vaccines to poor countries, his chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci told the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday.

"President Biden will issue a directive later today which will include the intent of the United States to join COVAX and support the ACT-Accelerator to advance multilateral efforts for COVID-19 vaccine, therapeutic, and diagnostic distribution, equitable access, and research and development," Fauci told the WHO executive board. The United States will remain a member of the WHO, he said. Biden's predecessor Donald Trump halted funding to the WHO, where the United States is the largest donor, and announced a process to withdraw from the agency in July 2021.

. Fire broke out at Terminal 1 gate of Serum Institute of India in Pune on Thursday, news agency ANI reports.

. The COVAX vaccine sharing platform designed to give equitable access to Covid-19 shots said on Thursday it aimed to deliver 1.8 billion doses to poorer countries in 2021, and hoped to fulfil deals for wealthier nations in the second half of the year.

COVAX, which is co-led by the GAVI vaccine alliance, the World Health Organization and others, said the 1.8 billion doses would be supplied via an advance market commitment to 92 eligible countries and would correspond to approximately 27% coverage of populations in those countries.

. Spain is pushing in the European Union and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development for the creation of a Covid-19 vaccine certification that would ease travel, Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez said on Thursday.

"We must prepare to resume mobility," she said on RNE radio station.

. Can Covid-19 vaccines be mixed and matched? Health officials say both doses should be of the same vaccine.

The Covid-19 vaccines rolling out in the United States, the United Kingdom and other parts of the world so far require two shots given a few weeks apart.

In the US where Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are being distributed, health officials say the vaccines are not interchangeable.

In England where shots by Pfizer and AstraZeneca are available, officials also say the doses should be consistent. ( PTI )

. Dr Harsh Vardhan added that vaccination will be the last nail in the coffin of Covid-19. "It is unfortunate that some people are spreading misinformation about the vaccination for political reasons. This has developed vaccine hesitancy in a small group of people," the union minister added.

"The government does not want people who are hesitant to take the vaccine to suffer any disadvantage. Everyone should get equal protection just like our doctors," he said.

. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has said reasserted that thevaccine is completely safe and effective. "The said adverse events or side effects surfacing are common and it can be seen after any vaccination," he said.

. California's health department said on Wednesday it was safe to continue to use a batch of Covid-19 vaccine from Moderna Inc for inoculation after a pause on Sunday due to possible allergic reactions.

Moderna said on Tuesday it had received a report from the California Department of Public Health that several people at a center in San Diego were treated for possible allergic reactions after vaccination from one lot of its Covid-19 vaccine. ( Reuters )

. South Africa will pay $5.25 per dose for Covid-19 vaccines from the Serum Institute of India (SII),well above what others, including developed nations, are paying for the same shots, local newspaper Business Day reported on Thursday.

The Business Day report cited health department Deputy Director-General Anban Pillay as saying the price was based on South Africa's level of development and its past investment in research and development. ( Reuters )

. Prime Minister Narendra Modi may get vaccinated in the second phase of Covid-19 inoculation, sources have told NDTV .

. The World Bank on Thursday said it had approved a re-allocation of $34 million in funds to support Lebanon's vaccination efforts as it races to contain the coronavirus pandemic, marking the first such outlay of funds by the Bank.

Lebanon has seen daily infection rates soar to the highest levels in the region, with over 6,000 cases reported on Friday, adding to economic and political pressures caused by a financial collapse and a huge port blast in August.

Thursday's re-allocation of funds from Lebanon's existing Health Resilience Project is the first World Bank-financed operation to fund the procurement of Covid-19 vaccines.

. India's Bharat Biotech submitted on Thursday an application for the emergency use of its Covid-19 vaccines in the Philippines, Food and Drug Administration chief Rolando Enrique Domingo said.

Bharat Biotech, which has developed COVAXIN with the Indian Council of Medical Research, is the fourth vaccine maker to apply for emergency use in the Philippines. ( Reuters )

. Indonesia plans to start giving the general public Covid-19 vaccinations sometime between late April to May, health minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said on Thursday.

"(Vaccinations) will happen for 1.4 million health between January to February, after that 17 million public workers will be vaccinated, then we will provide vaccines for 25 million seniors," he told a forum, adding he hoped by May or the end of April Indonesia could start vaccinating the general public. ( Reuters )

. Beijing is touting a state programme that gives Taiwanese in China priority for Covid-19 vaccines, prompting concern within Taiwan's government which sees it as the latest Chinese tool to win over the island's population.

China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, is making the free-of-charge offer at a time when the democratic island has yet to begin vaccinations of its own, with Chinese government departments and state media quoting Taiwanese in China in support of the programme. ( Reuters )

. European Union leaders will on Thursday seek to address the coronavirus pandemic's mounting challenges, from containing more infectious variants to the threat of border closures and the slow roll-out of vaccines across the bloc.

The heads of EU institutions have urged the leaders to maintain unity and step up testing and vaccinations, though no formal conclusions are expected from the online video conference, the ninth since the pandemic began.

The meeting begins at 6 p.m. ( Reuters )

. Hong Kong is set to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine before the end of the week, with a warehouse in the financial centre being selected to store the vials, the South China Morning Post reported on Thursday.

Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee is set to approve use of the vaccine this week, clearing the way for the first round of one million inoculations after Lunar New Year, the report added, citing a government source. ( Reuters )

. Ecuador said the first batch of 18 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines it contracted for with three pharmaceutical companies and the COVAX initiative arrived on Wednesday for a pilot plan with medical staff from public hospitals and nursing homes.

After several months of negotiations, Health Minister Juan Carlos Zevallos said the Andean nation had firm contracts with pharmaceutical companies Covaxx, Pfizer and AstraZeneca for the delivery of 10 million doses and with the global COVAX initiative, led by the World Health Organization and GAVI vaccine alliance to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines, for 8 million additional doses. ( Reuters )

. Union Health Minister clarified that no vial of Covid-19 vaccine is wasted in case a beneficiary fails to turn up for the vaccination. Vardhan was responding to a tweet by Congress leader and former Finance Minister P Chidambaramthat there is no point in wasting opened vials with unused doses.

Vardhan had taken to Twitter to dispel rumours and misinformation about the Covid-19 vaccine.

Coronavirus vaccine news highlights: Nearly 10 lakh vaccinated against Covid-19 in India

Thank you for following the coronavirus vaccine updates on Deccan Herald

Russia to send Sputnik V doses to Hungary, welcomes UAE approval

Raghav Chadha inspects Covid-19 vaccination drive at Gangaram Hospital

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