Coronavirus vaccine highlights: Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine shows 72% efficacy in the US

The UN Secretary-General, on Friday, expressed hope that India will have all instruments necessary to play a major role in ensuring a global vaccination campaign becomes possible as the world fights the pandemic. He also said that India's vaccine production capacity is one of the best assets the world has today. Meanwhile, Novavax Inc said that its coronavirus vaccine was 89.3% effective in preventing Covid-19 in a trial conducted in the United Kingdom, according to a preliminary analysis. Stay tuned for more updates.

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Vaccination drive to help revive contact intensive services sector

With the ongoing vaccination drive, the contact intensive services sectors are expected to witness revival, the Economic Survey said on Friday.

Hit hard by the pandemic, the overall services sector has witnessed a contraction of almost 16 per cent in the first half of 2020-21 on year-on-year basis.

In this, the contact intensive services sector was severely impacted, particularly sub-sectors such as tourism, aviation, and hospitality, the document noted. (PTI)

Johnson & Johnson's single-dose vaccine shows 72 per cent efficacy

A fifth US-made vaccine by Johnson & Johnson has shown efficacy against the coronavirus and only has a single dose.

The vaccine ismade by the US giant's subsidiary Janssen, based in the Netherlands. The trails for the vaccine were held inthe UK, who has already bought 30m doses.

The company said it was 72 per centeffective in preventing Covid in the United States but a lower rate of 66 per centwas observed globally. (Guardian)

Covid-19 pandemic far from over, new variants worrying: Singapore PM

The Covid-19 pandemic is far from being quelled even with the availability of vaccines as new variants of the virus are worrying and further mutations will surely emerge, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Friday.

"Until a large part of the population is vaccinated, we need strong public health measures everywhere to keep people safe," Loong said in a special address to the World Economic Forum's virtual Davos Agenda Summit. (PTI)

Personal data stolen from Dutch coronavirus track-and-trace programme

Personal information of a large number of people who participated in the Netherlands' coronavirus track-and-trace programme has been leaked, the Dutch health authorities (GGD) said on Friday.

The GGD confirmed a media report that data had been stolen and apologised for what it said were two separate leaks. It said in a statement it did not know how many people were affected by the data theft, but they could number in the thousands. (Reuters)

Tanzania's president expresses doubts about Covid vaccines

Tanzania's president on Wednesday openly expressed doubt about Covid-19 vaccines and accused people who were vaccinated outside the East African nation of bringing new infections into the country.

"If the white man was able to come up with vaccinations, then vaccinations for AIDS would have been brought, tuberculosis would be a thing of the past, vaccines for malaria and cancer would have been found,” President John Magufuli said during an event in his hometown. (AP)

Just in | EU Commission head says AstraZeneca contract contains binding orders

Serum Institute of India applies to conduct local trial for Novavax vaccine

The Serum Institute of India (SII), the world's biggest vaccine maker, has applied to local authorities to conduct a small domestic trial of Novavax Inc's Covid-19 vaccine, which was found to be 89.3% effective in a UK trial.

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UN chief Antonio Guterres receives Covid-19 vaccine

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has received his first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine and appealed to people to get vaccinated as soon as they can while stressing that nations must ensure the vaccine is available to everyone, everywhere.

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Meanwhile, India reports over 19,000 new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours

India reports 18,855 new Covid-19cases, 20,746 discharges and 163 deaths in last 24 hours, as per Union Health Ministry Total cases: 1,07,20,048 Active cases: 1,71,686 Total discharges: 1,03,94,352 Death toll: 1,54,010 Total vaccinated: 29,28,053.

Novavax Covid vaccine highly effective, but not against S.Africa variant

US biotech firm Novavax said on Thursday that its two-shot Covid-19 vaccine candidate showed 89.3 per cent efficacy in a major Phase 3 clinical trial in Britain.

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Novavax says its vaccine is 89.3% effective in UK trial

Novavax Inc said on Thursday its coronavirus vaccine was 89.3% effective in preventing Covid-19 in a trial conducted in the United Kingdom, and was nearly as effective in protecting against the more highly contagious variant first discovered in the UK, according to a preliminary analysis.

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Europe's Covid-19 vaccine row worsens as WHO probe set to begin in China

Europe's row with AstraZeneca worsened Thursday with a German recommendation against administering the firm's Covid vaccine to older people, while WHO experts emerged from quarantine in China to begin a long-awaited probe into the pandemic's origins.

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Brazil researchers find people infected with two different coronavirus strains

Researchers in southern Brazil said they have discovered patients infected with two different strains of the new coronavirus simultaneously, reflecting concerns about the growing number of variants in the country.

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UN chief lauds India's Covid-19 vaccine assistance to other nations

India's vaccine production capacity is one of the best assets the world has today, UN chief Antonio Guterres has said as he applauded India for supplying Covid-19 doses to nations around the world to combat the catastrophic global health crisis.

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67% of active Covid cases in Kerala, Maharashtra; Over 28 lakh vaccinated so far

Nearly 67% of India’s new Covid-19 infections come from only two states – Kerala and Maharashtra—each accounting for more than 40,000 active cases.

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How the coronavirus turns the body against itself

The coronavirus can warp the body’s defenses in many ways — disarming the body’s early warning systems, for example, or causing immune cells to misfire. But a spate of new studies suggests another insidious consequence: The infection can trigger the production of antibodies that mistakenly attack the patient’s own tissues instead of the virus.

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AstraZeneca, UK PM defend Covid-19 vaccine effectiveness

AstraZeneca and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday defended the effectiveness of the company's Covid-19 vaccine after regulators in Germany said it should not be given to over-65s.

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UK tightens overseas travel rules, warns holidaymakers of fines

The UK government has further tightened its overseas travel measures and warned British holidaymakers that they could face fines of 200 pounds as their journeys do not fall within the coronavirus lockdown valid travel exceptions.

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India sends free AstraZeneca vaccines to Sri Lanka for Friday rollout

India sent half a million free doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Sri Lanka on Thursday, officials said, part of diplomatic efforts by Delhi to deepen ties with its neighbours.

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