From the Newsroom: Six passengers from UK test positive for Covid-19 on arrival in India

In your evening news brief, From the Newsroom, Six passengers from UK test positive for Covid-19 on arrival in India; The co-founder of BioNTech says that it was "highly likely" that its vaccine against the coronavirus works against the mutated strain; Bharat Biotech says recruitment of volunteers for a late-stage trial of the shot was on track; Cricketer Suresh Raina and some other celebrities were booked for violating Covid-19 norms; and Prashant Kishor challenges BJP leaders to say on record that they would quit their positions if the party failed to get 200 seats in West Bengal.

Here is the top news of December 22, 2020:

The co-founder of BioNTech said on Tuesday that it was "highly likely" that its vaccine against the coronavirus works against the mutated strain detected in Britain, but it could also adapt the vaccine if necessary in six weeks.

"Scientifically, it is highly likely that the immune response by this vaccine also can deal with the new virus variant," said Ugur Sahin.

But if needed, "in principle the beauty of the messenger technology is that we can directly start to engineer a vaccine which completely mimics this new mutation -- we could be able to provide a new vaccine technically within six weeks.”

Bharat Biotech said on Tuesday its recruitment of volunteers for a late-stage trial of the shot was on track, following reports of a shortage of participants.

Bharat Biotech has signed up 13,000 volunteers for the Phase 3 trial, backed by government medical research body, and is progressing towards its goal of 26,000, the company said.

The trial began in mid-November at multiple sites across the country. Local news reports last week suggested that some of those trial sites were well short of reaching intended recruitment targets.

Six passengers travelling on Air India's London-Delhi flight tested positive for Covid-19 on arrival, a senior government official said on Tuesday.

The flight landed around 11.30 pm on Monday. "Five passengers were found Covid-positive at the Delhi airport. One passenger who took a connecting flight to Chennai was tested there and found positive," the official said.

Cricketer Suresh Raina and some other celebrities were booked for violating Covid-19 norms at a club in Mumbai.

Police conducted a raid on a club near Mumbai airport in the early hours of Tuesday and arrested 34 people for allegedly violating the Covid-19 prevention norms, an official said.

The police action came after the Maharashtra government on Monday declared a night curfew in municipal corporation areas as a precautionary step amid growing concerns over a new coronavirus variant spreading in Britain.

A day after claiming that the BJP will not cross double digits in the West Bengal Assembly polls, election strategist Prashant Kishor on Tuesday challenged its leaders to say on record that they would quit their positions if the party failed to get 200 seats.

"BJP will struggle to cross double digits and will get less than 100 seats in West Bengal. Will quit my work if they do," Kishor told PTI, reiterating his assessment.

Source: DHNS/ PTI/ Reuters/ AFP