News Analysis India

Tag: COVID 19 Vaccine in India

  • Raipur diary: Sarv-Dharam march for vaccination and more

    Express News Service
    Doctors feted for their roles during Covid

    The effective response and diligent services rendered by the healthcare professionals during the pandemic emphasise their vital roles when they were active in the forefront to face the challenges. The significance of medical fraternity in the lives of everyone was realised during the pandemic as they were vulnerable to infection, faced violence but still continued to help, said CM Bhupesh Baghel. As selfless warriors they delivered their most to ensure welfare  of the people, said Dr Rakesh Gupta, Chairman Hospital Board.

    Vazan Tyohaar for malnourished children

    According to the 2019, “Vazan Tyohaar”, ( A festival which assess the indicators on underweight, malnourished and stunted growth while comparing the ideal growth indices) showed that 9.70 lakh children were emaciated, out of which 67,889 were free from malnutrition till March 2020, as per data shown by the Women and Child Development (WCD) department. Chattisgarh was tagged among those states which have high levels of malnutrition and anameia among the children and women in the National Health Family Survey (NHFS) -4. The training of the staff are underway ahead of the festival which will continue from July 7 to 16 in all Angandwadi centres and primary schools in the state, which has a substantial number of primitive groups in its population.

    IPS officer suspended after ACB raids​A 1994-batch IPS officer, GP Singh whose premises were raided by the Anti-Corruption Bureau and the Economic Offences Wing in a disproportionate assets case was suspended by the Chhattisgarh government.  The search continued for 3 days in around 15 locations linked to the officer who claimed to have unearthed properties worth over `10 crore allegedly owned by him. A case under the Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 was registered against him. Singh now has the dubious distinction of being the first IPS officer in Chattishgarh whose premises were raided by the anti-graft agency.

    Sarv-Dharam march for vaccination shots

    To create awareness and motivate the masses on benefits of getting vaccinated against coronavirus, the religious and community leaders participated  in a “Sarv-Dharam” (All religion) foot march in the city of Raipur led by the Raipur Municipal Corporation (RMC) Mayor, Ajiaz Dhebar. The rally appealed the public to get the shots which will protect them and further do away with the misconceptions about it. “Once an individual develops immunity through vaccination, then there is less risk of developing illness” the mayor said with concern for the public who are unaware about the befits of vaccine. 

  • Private hospitals can’t directly procure Covid vaccines, need to place orders on CoWIN: Centre

    All private hospitals have to register on CoWIN as a Private COVID Vaccination Centre to participate in the aggregation mechanism.

  • Not vaccinated! 13-year-old Madhya Pradesh teen gets certificate as 56-year-old

    By Express News Service
    BHOPAL: While the country is yet to start vaccinating children below 18 against Covid-19, a 13-year-old in Madhya Pradesh has already been vaccinated on paper. Not as a teenager, but as a 56-year-old man!This glaring error was detected on June 21, the day the BJP-ruled state claimed to have set a record of 17 lakh-plus doses during the daylong vaccination ‘Maha Abhiyan’ marking the International Yoga Day. 

    The recipient was Vedant Dangre of Bhopal. “At 7.27 pm on June 21 I got a message on my phone saying that my teenaged son has been vaccinated. I was shocked because the country is yet to start vaccinating those below 18,” Vedant’s father Rajat Dangre told this daily on Tuesday.

    There was more surprise in store. “The message read that my son was 56,” said Rajat. He is particularly concerned about his son (who is specially-abled) since he is already being shown vaccinated officially. 

    “That means he won’t be able to get the benefit of two doses when vaccination for children starts. When I downloaded the certificate from the official link, it showed that the document of my son’s bank account (opened a couple of months ago while applying for disabled person pension) was used in the vaccination certificate,” says Rajat. He has tried to get this addressed at all places, from the ward office of Bhopal Municipal Corporation to health department staff, but this is yet to be corrected.

    In another part of Bhopal, Nuzhat Salim, a 46-year-old, too got a message from the government at 10.57 am on June 21 informing her she had been vaccinated. “I’m concerned how I’ll get both doses in future after I’ve already been shown as vaccinated.”

    In Satna district, middle-aged educationist Chainendra Pandey, got not one, but four messages in five minutes on June 24, informing him about vaccination of three people whom he didn’t even know. Madhya Pradesh’s medical education minister Vishwas Sarang refused to acknowledge this. “Nothing of the sort has happened,” he maintained.

  • Cipla gets licence to import Moderna’s Covid vaccine 

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI: The Covid vaccine by the US-based Moderna on Tuesday became the first vaccine to receive the emergency use authorisation in India under the changed regulatory norms that allow coronavirus vaccines approved in certain other nations to enter the country without bridging clinical trials.

    Mumbai-based pharmaceutical major Cipla’s application to the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation to import the vaccine, which had shown over 90% efficacy against preventing Covid infection in the efficacy trials, was accepted and approved the same day.

    It is, however, yet to be understood exactly when will the messenger RNA-based vaccine be available in India and in what quantity.

    The vaccine can be stored at 2-8 degree centigrade for a month while the vial is unopened but needs to be stored at -20 to -25 degree centigrade for medium- and long-term storage—making the logistics requirement somewhat challenging. Its two doses have to be administered 28 days apart.

    The development comes even as the Union government is yet to take a decision on the demand of indemnity put forth by Moderna, along with another company Pfizer whose coronavirus vaccine is also looking to enter the Indian market.

    ALSO READ | India was in dark on Delta variant: Dr Eric Feigl Ding

    ources in the apex drug regulator said that as per the modified rules, the Covid vaccine by Moderna, will still need to be administered to 100 people first for the safety assessment and the report will be examined after 7 days before mass vaccinations are carried out.

    “We are pleased to inform that Moderna vaccine has been approved in India today through an Indian partner and it opens the pathways for the vaccine’s availability in the country soon,” said VK Paul, member health, Niti Aayog, in a press briefing on Tuesday, shortly after the CDSCO meeting in which the application by Cipla was cleared.

    In April, while battling the devastating second wave of the pandemic, the Narendra Modi government had relaxed norms significantly to expedite the approval of foreign-made Covid vaccine in India.

    Bending the rules, it had said that the vaccines approved by the US FDA, EMA (European Union Medical Authority), UK’s MHRA and Japan’s PMDA, and WHO’s emergency use listing will not need to undergo prior bridging trials.

    It had, however, said that the first 100 beneficiaries of such foreign vaccines shall be assessed for seven days for safety outcomes before it is rolled out for further immunization programme within the country,

    Meanwhile, Paul added that while the Moderna vaccine, for now, will arrive in India in ready-to-use form, the government is hoping that the company will develop partnerships for its local production in the country.

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  • Moderna seeks regulatory approval for its Covidvaccine in India; Cipla applies for import

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: India’s drug regulator may soon grant restricted emergency use authorisation for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, official sources said on Tuesday.

    Moderna has also informed that the US Government has agreed to donate a certain number of doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine through COVAX to the Government of India for use and has sought approval from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) for these vaccines.

    Mumbai-based pharmaceutical firm Cipla, on behalf of the US pharma major, has requested for import and marketing authorisation of these jabs.

    #Breaking: @Cipla_Global applies for importing #CovidVaccine by @moderna_tx in India@NewIndianXpress
    — Sumi Dutta (@SumiSukanya) June 29, 2021

    According to the sources, an approval is likely to come anytime as the CDSCO is in favour of doing so.

    Cipla filed an application on Monday seeking permission for import of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine referring to DCGI notices dated April 15 and June 1 stating that if the vaccine is approved by the USFDA for EUA, the vaccine can be granted marketing authorization without bridging trial and assessment of safety data of first 100 beneficiaries of vaccines shall be submitted before rolling out in immunization programme.

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  • Two more arrested in fake Covid vaccine camps case in Kolkata

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: A few more people were arrested in connection with the dubious COVID vaccination camps case in Kolkata, a police officer said on Tuesday.

    With the latest arrests, the Kolkata Police has so far nabbed six persons in the case, including fake IAS officer Debanjan Deb who masterminded the dubious COVID vaccination camps in the city, he said.

    “In a raid on Monday night, we picked up Deb’s cousin from the Naktala area and another 52-year-old man from the northern part of the city. Both were actively involved with Deb,” the officer said.

    Deb’s cousin knew from the very beginning that he was not an IAS officer and despite that, he continued assisting him in the illegal activities, the officer said.

    “The cousin even cheated Deb. The other man was associated with a doctor of the Taltala area and assisting Deb in administering the fake COVID vaccines to the people who came to the camps,” he said.

    The investigators also found that Deb as an “IAS officer” even conducted a raid near his office in the Kasba area after getting information that adulterated petrol was being sold, the police officer said.

    A report about the raid was published in a newspaper with Deb’s photograph, he said.

    “He had also conducted an election where his employees cast votes. After the election, he declared himself the winner and also got that news published, mentioning that he won in West Bengal Employees Federation elections,” the officer said.

    Deb was arrested last week for masquerading as the joint commissioner of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and operating dubious immunisation camps.

    Three of his associates were arrested on Saturday as police included the charge of an attempt to murder along with other sections of the IPC against them.

  • Vaccination of 60-plus population sluggish after initial high; experts raise concerns

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The pace of vaccination of the 60-plus population has become sluggish in the past few weeks after an initial high, with healthcare experts attributing it to mobility issues and misinformation and unsubstantiated apprehensions about the jabs.

    According to Health Ministry data, 2.29 crore elderly people have been fully vaccinated so far while 6.71 crore have received just one dose of COVID-19 vaccine till now.

    The 60-plus population in India was projected to be at 14.3 crore in 2021, so that would imply that just 16 per cent of them have been fully vaccinated till now.

    Vaccination for those over 60 years of age and those of 45-plus with co-morbidities started from March 1 at both government and private centres.

    ALSO READ | India achieves milestone of conducting 40 crore COVID-19 tests: ICMR

    On an average about 80.77 lakh vaccine doses were given to the 60-plus population per week between March 13 and April 2, but the weekly figure dropped to about 32 lakh between June 5 to 25, according to the data.

    Healthcare experts expressed concern over the slow place of vaccination of the 60-plus people who are more prone to have co-morbidities and remain more susceptible to severe disease.

    Dr Sujeet Ranjan, Executive Director of The Coalition for Food and Nutrition Security (CFNS), said myths, misconceptions and rumours about COVID-19 vaccines are the biggest hurdle to vaccination coverage.

    “Some people think they will never contract COVID-19, others believe that the virus itself is on the way out. Irrational mistrust of scientifically approved vaccines is also a factor. While vaccine hesitancy has always been a phenomenon in our country, today it tends to accentuated by opinions on social media, where even people with no subject expertise but having wide following can influence people,” he said.

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    “Some people in rural areas believe that COVID-19 is mostly for urban people. Also, many people have heard on the social media that the vaccine and its side-effects will show up two to three years from now. These rumours, suspicion and fear are making it harder to remove vaccine hesitancy,” he added.

    He said it has also been observed that most public places in rural areas lack senior citizen-friendly infrastructure.

    Hospitals have expressed concern over the slow pace of vaccination of 60-plus people who also suffer from the maximum number of comorbidities.

    Dr. Shuchin Bajaj, Founder Director, Ujala Cygnus Group of Hospitals, said vaccine hesitancy in the elderly population is a very real issue.

    “Among many factors, one is a fear that people with previous heart disease will have some issue because of some unfortunate videos that were circulating around. Some people have done their CRP (c-reactive protein) tests also to see if that was raised and then they feel that they should not take the vaccine,” Bajaj said.

    Bajaj said mobility is also a very big issue for the 60-plus age group.

    “The most important problem is mobility because they are not really able to visit the vaccination centres themselves and also they have a fear that if they go into a crowded place, they will catch Covid. We need to ensure that we educate them about the various risk factors and try to provide vaccination to them at their doorstep,” he said.

    ALSO READ | Centre allocates 10.16 lakh vaccine doses for Odisha private hospitals

    Dr. Piyush Goel, Senior Consultant- Pulmonary and Critical Care, Columbia Asia Hospital, Palam Vihar, Gurugram, said for mass-scale vaccine coverage, vaccine hesitancy is one of the biggest hurdles.

    “As there has been a recent drop in the pace of vaccination among people above the age of 60, there are fears that this vaccine hesitancy can hamper the coverage of this population group most vulnerable to COVID-19,” he said.

    Dr. Roshan Palresha, Consultant – Emergency Medicine, Columbia Asia Hospital, Pune, said the recent drop in Covid vaccine coverage among the 60-plus group of people is a cause of concern as they are more prone to have comorbidities, and remain more susceptible to severe disease.

    “People aged 60 and more must understand that while the number of infected people may go up or down, their vulnerability to the disease and chances of mortality remain the same, and can be reduced only with vaccines,” he said.

    “In the past we have successfully reduced cases of HIV/AIDS and polio through sustained and focussed media campaigns, and it should help this time too.

    Government representatives must engage in dialogue with these people and may also come up with non-financial incentives to encourage people,” he suggested.

    Dr. HK Mahajan, Anesthesiologist, Indian Spinal Injuries Centre, Vasant Kunj, said focus should be on getting across two key vaccine messages — vaccines provide protection against COVID-19 and vaccines are safe.

    Mahajan said vaccine hesitancy in people over the age of 60 years in India could also be because of misinformation, myth and skepticism.

    To counter this, Mahajan suggested that front-line health workers and hospitals should issue statements in favour of vaccination.

    “Influential people like film actors, famous personalities should also be tapped to appeal to the public to get vaccinated,” he said.

  • More than 1.89 crore unutilised Covid vaccine doses available with states, UTs: Union Health Ministry

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: More than 1.89 crore balance and unutilised COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with the states and Union territories, the Union health ministry said on Thursday.

    Two crore vaccine doses have been administered in the first 72 hours of the implementation of the new revised guidelines of the National COVID-19 Vaccination Programme, the ministry said.

    More than 30 crore (30,33,27,440) vaccine doses have been provided by the Centre to states/UTs so far, through Government of India (free of cost channel) and direct state procurement category.

    Of this, the total consumption, including wastages, is 28,43,40,936 doses (according to the data available at 8 am on Thursday), the ministry said.

    “More than 1.89 crore (1,89,86,504) balance and unutilised Covid vaccine doses are still available with the states and UTs to be administered.

    ALSO READ | Rural areas administered more doses than urban in record vaccination on June 21: Government

    “Furthermore, more than 21,05,010 vaccine doses are in the pipeline and will be received by them within the next three days,” the ministry said.

    The Union government is committed to accelerating the pace and expanding the scope of COVID-19 vaccination throughout the country.

    The new phase of universalisation of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from June 21.

    The vaccination drive has been ramped up through availability of more vaccines, advance visibility of vaccine availability to states/UTs for enabling better planning by them, and streamlining the vaccine supply chain, the ministry said.

    Under the nationwide vaccination drive, the Centre has been supporting the states/UTs by providing them Covid vaccines free of cost.

    In the new phase of the universalisation of the COVID-19 vaccination drive, the Union government will procure and supply (free of cost) 75 per cent of the vaccines being produced by vaccine manufacturers in the country to states/UTs, it added.

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  • Media reports on homeless people barred from registering for Covid vaccination baseless: Centre

    It added that the government has issued an advisory on May 27 for near-to-home vaccination centre services for the elderly and differently-abled persons.

  • Covaxin shows 77.8 per cent efficacy in phase 3 trial data

    By Online Desk
    According to news agencies, Covaxin shows 77.8 per cent efficacy in phase 3 trial data in review by Subject Expert Committee (SEC).

    The Subject Expert Committee was to meet today to review the Phase III data of Covaxin.

    Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin is one of the three vaccines which are currently being used in India. The phase III data of its vaccine have been questioned various times and that is what makes the data crucial which will ascertain the efficacy of the vaccine.

    #Breaking: @CDSCO_INDIA_INF approves phase 3 trial data of @BharatBiotech ‘s #Covaxin showing 77.8 % efficacy against #COVID19 infection. @NewIndianXpress #CovidVaccine
    — Sumi Dutta (@SumiSukanya) June 22, 2021

    The company has developed the vaccine in association with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

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    (This is a developing story. More details awaited.)