Coronavirus vaccine news highlights: 'Rate of adverse events in India lowest so far in the world'

Three days after starting its massive inoculation drive against Covid-19, India has vaccinated a total of 3.81 lakh people. There have been 580 cases of adverse effects following immunizations so far and 2 deaths, which the government has said are unrelated to the vaccine. India has approved two vaccines — Bharat Biotech's Covaxin and Serum Institute of India's Covishield — for emergency use in the country. Frontline workers and healthcare workers are being vaccinated in the first phase. Stay tuned for updates.

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The Centre is supplying additional 92,500 doses of Covishield vaccine to Uttarakhand that will reach Dehradun Airport tomorrow morning: State Chief Minister's Office. (ANI)

The lowest vaccination rate was in Shahdara district where only 27.25% (169/620) was achieved. North (165/504 or 32.73%), NorthEast (77/234 or 32.9%) and NewDelhi (335/862 or 38.86%) districts also recorded low caccination rate on Jan 19

The vaccination target set for Delhi on Jan 19 was 10,125 but only 4,936 were vaccinated, which is 48.75% of target. Of the 16 AEFI, the largest number was in Central District where four incidents were reported.

4,936 persons have been administered coronavirus vaccine today in Delhi. Adverse Event following Immunisation: 16.

Government of India has received several requests for the supply of Indian manufactured vaccines from neighbouring and key partner countries, supplies under grant assistance to Bhutan, Maldives, Bangladesh, Nepal, Myanmar and Seychelles will begin from 20 January: MEA

Govt doctors association in Karnataka wants choice to pick Covid-19 vaccine

An association of government doctors in Karnataka has demanded that health care workers be allowed their choice of the Covid-19 vaccine, saying there have been some concerns among a section of the fraternity over the present arrangement for making available the doses. State Health Minister K Sudhakar, meanwhile, dismissed as "far from truth" reports that there was hesitation among some sections to take the vaccine.

One of 2 vaccines is given emergency use authorisation under clinical trial mode. In a document for this vaccine, it's mentioned that if there's causal relation between immunisation and adverse event, severe or serious, hospitalisation cost would be born

A nasal vaccine candidate has been identified. It has come for consideration for phase 1 and phase 2 trials. If it works then it could be a game-changer: Dr V K Paul

We are not fulfilling our societal responsibility if a vaccine assigned to you is not being taken. The whole world is clamouring for the vaccine. I request the doctors and nurses to accept the vaccine: Dr VK Paul.

We would like to reassure with the data we have seen that the two Covid-19 vaccines are safe. The vaccine hesitancy should end. How will we defeat the pandemic then? asks Niti Aayog member V K Paul.

“We must dispel the popular notion that AEFI means people have lost consciousness, or have been hospitalised," says health secretary Rajesh Bhushan.

The concerns about adverse effects and serious problems, as of now, seem to be insignificant. Data show that we are in a comfortable situation and we would like to reassure you that the two Covid-19 vaccines are safe: Health ministry

0.18% adverse events happened following immunisation and 0.002% of people were hospitalised following immunisation. These are fairly low and the lowest so far in the world in the first three days, claims the health ministry.

4,54,049 people have been vaccinated till now. Active cases around 2 lakhs after seven months and the number is declining. Daily number of deaths less than 140 after eight months: Health Ministry

Russia says its second Covid-19 vaccine is 100% effective: Report

Russia's consumer health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor on Tuesday said Russia's second vaccine against Covid-19 is 100% effective based on the results of clinical trials, the TASS news agency reported.

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Centre issues Letter of Comfort to Bharat Biotech for 45 lakh doses of Covaxin

Bharat Biotech has secured a fresh Letter of Comfort from the Centre for another 45 lakh doses of its Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin, sources said on Tuesday. Out of those 45 lakh doses, the city-based vaccine maker will be supplying over eight lakh doses of Covaxin to some of the friendly countries such as Mauritius, Philippines and Myanmar, free of cost as good will gesture.

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Government of India has approved Covishield & Covaxin vaccines. Covaxin is still in phase-III trials, where the trial is being done on healthcare workers. We condemn this. Healthcare workers should be given a choice of vaccine: President, Karnataka Association of Resident Doctors

Hype about vaccine side effects made beneficiaries anxious: Dr Randeep Guleria

An ‘infodemic’ about vaccination and influx of social media posts about adverse effects from the vaccines are the reasons behind the tepid response from the healthcare and frontline workers to India’s inoculation campaign against Covid-19, Dr Randeep Guleria said.

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Thousands skip vaccination in India due to hesitancy

The government has begun one of the world's most ambitious vaccine programmes, aiming to innoculate 300 million of the 1.3 billion population by July.

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Bharat Biotech explains who shouldn't take Covaxin shot

Two days after India began the world's largest vaccination drive against Covid-19, vaccine-maker Bharat Biotech warned in a fact sheet about who should avoid taking Covaxin shot. The indigenous Covid-19 vaccine should not be administered to people, who are either immuno-compromised or on a medication that impacts the immune system, the company has warned going against the government advice.

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Centre issues Letter of Comfort to Bharat Biotech for 45 lakh doses of Covaxin

Bharat Biotech has secured a fresh Letter of Comfort from the Centre for another 45 lakh doses of its Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin, sources said on Tuesday. Out of those 45 lakh doses, the city-based vaccine maker will be supplying over eight lakh doses of Covaxin to some of the friendly countries such as Mauritius, Philippines and Myanmar, free of cost as good will gesture.

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Pak approves Chinese anti-Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use

Pakistan authorities have approved the Chinese Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use in the country as the nation continues to witness a surge in the number of coronavirus infections.

The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) approved the vaccine on Monday, two days after it had approved the emergency use of Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine. (PTI)

Covid-19 vaccination resumes in Mumbai, Pune after 2 days

After a gap of two days, the Covid-19 vaccination drive resumed in Mumbai and Pune on Tuesday morning, but unlike the first day, there was hardly any rush of beneficiaries for taking jabs in the metropolis.

A doctor at a vaccination centre in Mumbai said the response was slow in the morning, but the process was gradually picking up.

The inoculation drive resumed at nine centres in Mumbai and 28 centres in the neighbouring Pune district, officials said. (PTI)

Palestinians due to receive first batch of Russian vaccine on Tuesday, Israel says

The Palestinian Authority (PA) is scheduled to receive on Tuesday a first shipment of 5,000 units of the main Russian Covid-19 vaccine known as Sputnik V, an Israeli official said.

The shipment is due to be brought by a PA delegate into the occupied West Bank through Jordan, the official said on condition of anonymity, adding that the import had been approved by Israel's health ministry. (Reuters)

Bharat Biotech to supply another 45 lakh doses of Covaxin to Centre

JUST IN | Bharat Biotech has secured a fresh letter of comfort from the Centre to supply another 45 lakh doses of its Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin, sources said.

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Images of vaccines being delivered to Hyderabad, Telangana

Philippines to buy 20 mn doses of Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine

The Philippines will buy 20 million doses of a Covid-19 vaccine from Moderna Inc, the country's presidential spokesman Harry Roque said on Tuesday.

Moderna's vaccines adds to the Philippines' deals to buy a total of 72 million doses from AstraZeneca, Novavax and Sinovac. (Reuters)

Vaccine critics received more than $1 million in pandemic relief loans

The Paycheck Protection Program’s loose rules allowed virtually any small business or company in America to qualify for a government-backed relief loan. Frustrated citizens and activist groups have criticized thousands of recipients they deemed unworthy, including wealthy lawyers, politicians and political lobbyists, publicly traded companies and businesses under government investigation.

Now the federal loan program has drawn criticism for giving loans to organizations that have challenged the safety of vaccines. (NYT)

Vaccines need not completely stop Covid-19 transmission to curb pandemic

Covid-19 vaccine rollouts are finally upon us. They hope that herd immunity—protection from an infectious disease that occurs once a sufficient proportion of the population has been vaccinated or infected—is on the horizon.

But even though the first vaccines to receive emergency use authorisation from the US Food and Drug Administration are exceptionally effective at preventing Covid-19, data cannot yet tell us if they hinder transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease.

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The Haryana state health department has informed that 11,457 beneficiaries have been vaccinated for Covid-19 and 52 adverse events following immunisation were reported till the end of January 18. (PTI)

New Zealand looks to secure small batch of vaccines early as pressure mounts

New Zealand said on Tuesday that it was looking to secure a small batch of Covid-19 vaccines early to protect its high-risk workers, as pressure mounts on the government to vaccinate its population.

A tough lockdown and the geographic advantage of being at the bottom of the world helped New Zealand virtually eliminate the novel coronavirus within its borders.

But with the pandemic raging globally, more people are returning to New Zealand with infections including the new variants from the UKand South Africa, raising concerns the virus may spread in the community again. (Reuters)

Covid response was a global series of failures, WHO-established panel says

Laying bare a yearlong cascade of failures, a World Health Organization panel recounts in a damning report how governments and public health organizations worldwide responded slowly and ineffectively to the coronavirus, despite years of warnings.

Many of the failings, such as the inability of governments to obtain protective equipment or do widespread contact tracing, have long been painfully clear over the course of the pandemic. But the report is stark in its assessment that, time and again, those who were responsible for protecting and leading failed to do either. (NYT)

WHO chief questions fairness of Covid vaccines' distribution

World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned of the unfairness of the Covid-19 vaccine distribution, saying that the world is "on the brink of a catastrophic moral failure".

Tedros said, at the WHO executive board meeting, that people of the poor countries will pay the price of this failure with their lives and livelihoods.

"More than 39 million doses of vaccine have now been administered in at least 49 higher-income countries. Just 25 doses have been given in one lowest-income country. Not 25 million, not 25 thousand, just 25," Tedros said. (ANI)