From the Newsroom: Centre defends its vaccination strategy in Supreme Court

In your evening news brief, Shashi Tharoor takes a dig at the government over foreign aid; Centre defends its vaccination strategy in Supreme Court and Germany is to make Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine available to all adults.

Hi, this is Ahmed Shariff and you are listening to, From The Newsroom — your daily evening news catch up show from Deccan Herald.

Here is the top news of May 10, 2021:

Taking a dig at the government over foreign aid in the wake of the Covid-19 second wave, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday said 'Naya Bharat' is one where a virtue is made out of the sympathy earned by failures and "governmental apathy that led us to needing it" is denied or glossed over.

In his tweet attacking the Centre, Tharoor tagged External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's tweet on the aid of oxygen, Remdesivir vials and other Covid-19-related medical assistance India is getting from various countries.

The vaccination strategy for Covid-19 has been formulated by the Centre in a "just, equitable, non-discriminatory" manner and any "overzealous" judicial intervention may result in unforeseen consequences, the government has told the Supreme Court.

In an affidavit filed by the Centre in response to the points raised by the top court, it said as vaccination of the entire country is not possible in one stretch due to the very suddenness of the pandemic, limited availability of vaccine doses and the vulnerability are the prime considerations. The submission was made in a suo motu by the apex court case for ensuring essential supplies and services during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Germany is to make Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine available to all adults, Health Minister Jens Spahn said on Monday, adding that they will be able to receive the shot on the advice of a doctor.

Europe's drug regulator backed J&J's vaccine last month after examining cases of a rare blood clotting issue in US adults who received a dose. But it left it up to the European Union's member states to decide how to use it. Germany's move to offer the J&J single-dose vaccine widely follows the lifting of restrictions last week on the AstraZeneca vaccine.

(Source: PTI/Reuters)