News Analysis India

Tag: COVID vaccines

  • ‘PM Modi really knows how to shrug away responsibility’: Congress on deaths due to Covid vaccines

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Congress on Wednesday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “shrugging away” from its responsibility, a day after the government told the Supreme Court that it cannot be held liable to compensate for the deaths post administration of Covid vaccines.

    “First: No deaths due to oxygen shortage. Then: No aid to Covid victims. Now: No accountability for vaccine-related deaths. Prime Minister Modi really knows how to shrug away responsibility. A true event manager!” the Congress said on its Twitter handle.

    Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate also took a dig, saying this government is never responsible for anything.

    “If there is death due to the side effects of Covid vaccine anywhere in the country, then the government is not responsible for it — people are getting it as per their wish. This is Modi government’s affidavit in the Supreme Court. (Well this government is never responsible for anything),” she said in a tweet in Hindi.

    In another tweet, she said, “Thank you Modi ji for quickly traversing the journey from photo on every vaccine certificate to no responsibility.”

    ALSO READ | ‘Not liable to compensate for deaths due to Covid vaccine,’ Centre tells SC

    The government cannot be held liable to compensate for the deaths due to an adverse event following immunisation (AEFI) post-administration of Covid-19 vaccines, the Centre has told the Supreme Court.

    The affidavit filed in the apex court by the Centre assumes significance in view of the fact that the government has been zealously pursuing the Covid-19 vaccination programme to fight the pandemic and, as per latest reports, over 219 crore doses have been administered.

    The affidavit was filed in response to a petition by the parents of two girls who died allegedly due to adverse effects following Covid vaccination.

    It claimed vaccines manufactured by third parties had successfully undergone regulatory review, and holding the state directly liable to provide compensation may not be legally sustainable.

    “The vaccines in use under the vaccination programme are manufactured by third parties and have successfully undergone thorough regulatory review in India as well as other nations, being recognised globally as safe and effective,” it said.

    “In these facts, it is most humbly submitted that holding the State directly liable to provide compensation under the narrow scope of strict liability for extremely rare deaths occurring due to AEFIs from the use of vaccines may not be legally sustainable,” the affidavit said.

    NEW DELHI: The Congress on Wednesday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for “shrugging away” from its responsibility, a day after the government told the Supreme Court that it cannot be held liable to compensate for the deaths post administration of Covid vaccines.

    “First: No deaths due to oxygen shortage. Then: No aid to Covid victims. Now: No accountability for vaccine-related deaths. Prime Minister Modi really knows how to shrug away responsibility. A true event manager!” the Congress said on its Twitter handle.

    Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate also took a dig, saying this government is never responsible for anything.

    “If there is death due to the side effects of Covid vaccine anywhere in the country, then the government is not responsible for it — people are getting it as per their wish. This is Modi government’s affidavit in the Supreme Court. (Well this government is never responsible for anything),” she said in a tweet in Hindi.

    In another tweet, she said, “Thank you Modi ji for quickly traversing the journey from photo on every vaccine certificate to no responsibility.”

    ALSO READ | ‘Not liable to compensate for deaths due to Covid vaccine,’ Centre tells SC

    The government cannot be held liable to compensate for the deaths due to an adverse event following immunisation (AEFI) post-administration of Covid-19 vaccines, the Centre has told the Supreme Court.

    The affidavit filed in the apex court by the Centre assumes significance in view of the fact that the government has been zealously pursuing the Covid-19 vaccination programme to fight the pandemic and, as per latest reports, over 219 crore doses have been administered.

    The affidavit was filed in response to a petition by the parents of two girls who died allegedly due to adverse effects following Covid vaccination.

    It claimed vaccines manufactured by third parties had successfully undergone regulatory review, and holding the state directly liable to provide compensation may not be legally sustainable.

    “The vaccines in use under the vaccination programme are manufactured by third parties and have successfully undergone thorough regulatory review in India as well as other nations, being recognised globally as safe and effective,” it said.

    “In these facts, it is most humbly submitted that holding the State directly liable to provide compensation under the narrow scope of strict liability for extremely rare deaths occurring due to AEFIs from the use of vaccines may not be legally sustainable,” the affidavit said.

  • Over 115 crore vaccine doses administered in India till now, says Health Ministry

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The total number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 115 crore on Thursday, the Union Health Ministry said.

    According to officials, over 80 per cent of the eligible population in India have received the first dose of the vaccine while more than 41 per cent have been fully inoculated.

    In a tweet, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said, “The country is getting protected through vaccination every day.

    As India’s vaccination coverage crosses the 115 crore mark, PM Narendra Modi ji’s words ring true — once Indians decide to do something, nothing is impossible! “Har Ghar Dastak strengthening the world’s largest vaccination drive!” he said.

    The ministry had on Wednesday declared that the number of individuals fully vaccinated individuals against COVID-19 surpassed the partially vaccinated population.

    The government has recently launched a month-long ‘Har Ghar Dastak’ campaign for house-to-house COVID-19 vaccination of those who are yet to take a dose and those whose second dose is overdue.

    Mandaviya had recently said that over 12 crore beneficiaries are due for their second dose of COVID-19 vaccine and had urged the state health ministers to ensure that all adult population is covered with the first doses during the ongoing ‘Har Ghar Dastak’ campaign, while those who are due for the second doses are also motivated to take the jab.

  • Supreme Court to hear on Nov 29 plea seeking disclosure of data on COVID-19 vaccines’ clinical trials

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Monday said it would hear on November 29 a plea seeking directions for disclosure of data on clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines as also on post-jab cases.

    The apex court had earlier in August asked the Centre, Bharat Biotech, SII, and others to respond to the plea which sought directions to also disclose post-vaccination data regarding adverse events.

    As the bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and A S Oka, which was scheduled to hear the matter, was about to rise for the day, advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner, mentioned the plea and urged the court to give some date for hearing.

    He claimed people are losing jobs due to the coercive vaccine mandates being issued by the government if someone is not vaccinated.

    Solicitor General Tushar Mehta strongly opposed the submission and said the petitioner wants a mandate that vaccines should not be administered.

    However, Bhushan said this is not so and he was not saying this at all.

    Mehta said he needs three weeks to reply and said, “let the country go the way the country wants to go”.

    “I will file my reply and need time for that,” Mehta said adding that “we don’t know whose interest he (Bhushan) is representing in this matter.”

    Bhushan said three months have passed and they have not filed their reply to the petition filed by Dr.

    Jacob Puliyel, who is a former member of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation and has sought directions to also disclose post-vaccination data regarding adverse events.

    He had earlier maintained it is not an anti-vaccine petition and transparency on the issue was needed as disclosure of data would rather clear all the doubts and hesitancy.

    Bhushan, while making clear that the petitioner was not seeking to stop the ongoing vaccination, had said the plea has also raised the issue of coercive vaccine mandates being issued like putting a certain restriction on travel if someone is not vaccinated.

    The top court had issued notices to the Centre and others, including the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Bharat Biotech, and Serum Institute of India (SII), seeking their responses on the petition within four weeks.

    Observing that it does not want to get into the scientific decisions taken by the experts, the apex court had said personal autonomy will have to be balanced with public health.

    Bhushan had referred to reports and argued that they say vaccine hesitancy is more among those who are educated people.

    He had told the bench that the government says the vaccine is voluntary but now people are coerced to take the vaccine.

    “You cannot deny any service or job to anybody”, Bhushan had said while referring to vaccine mandates.

    He had said there are reports and data that vaccines are not that effective against the Delta variant of the virus which is spreading in several countries.

    The plea has sought directions to make public the segregated data of clinical trials for vaccines that are being administered in India under the emergency use authorisation granted by the Drugs Controller General of India.

    It has also sought the apex court’s declaration that vaccine mandates, even by way of making it a pre-condition for accessing any benefits or services, is a violation of the rights of citizens and is unconstitutional.

  • Opposition cites dismal rate of vaccination 

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  The Opposition questioned on Prime Minister Narendra Modi claim of science-borne, science-driven and science-based 1-billion vaccinations milestone achieved in the country on October 21.Among others from opposition, the leaders of Congress party questioned were first who questioned the government record of last 10 months of vaccination.   

    Questioning the milestone of 100 crore vaccinations, the Congress party accused the BJP-led government  of being engrossed in ‘eventology’ and celebrating ‘Jashnee-e-Statistics’ on the  issue of vaccinations, instead of presenting the real pictures on the dismal rate of vaccination.   

    Pawan Khera, national spokesperson for Congress on Friday soon after the Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed  to the nation, said, “The prime minister’s address has come as an insult to all those people who have lost their loves ones because of the mismanagement by the government.”      

    In the same way, Randeep Singh Surjewala, general secretary and member of CWC, also questioned the record of vaccinations asking the PM to reply as to why 42 crore adults in the country have not been fully vaccinated and why 32 crore people are still not being administered even a single dose.  

    Gaurav Vallabh, INC spokesperson at a hurriedly called media interface at AICC HQ on Friday, said, “Only 21% of our population has been doubly vaccinated and the rate of vaccination has also reduced from October 11. And vaccinating only 21% in the last 10 months is not a matter of claims.”    

    Sitaram Yechuri, senior leader, CPI (M) also expressed doubt over the claim that hardly 21% of population has been vaccinated. “Modi government has abandoned its own target of fully vaccinating all adults by the year end.  

  • Over 102 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses provided to states, UTs: Centre

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

  • Gujarat: 100 per cent eligible population in Surat inoculated with first dose of COVID vaccine

    By PTI

    SURAT: Gujarat’s Surat city has inoculated 100 per cent of its eligible population with the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, a senior civic official said on Wednesday.

    The Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) achieved the target of vaccinating 34.33 lakh eligible beneficiaries with the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday, the official said.

    “Surat has administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine to 100 per cent of eligible beneficiaries.

    To the best of our knowledge, Surat has become the first among the country’s big cities, with population of over 50 lakh, to achieve this target,” deputy municipal commissioner, (Health), SMC, Ashish Naik told PTI.

    According to the data released by the civic body, the second dose of the vaccine has been administered to around 48.4 per cent, or 16.61 lakh beneficiaries so far.

    The SMC had achieved the goal by setting up vaccination camps, targeting workplaces, housing societies, and seeking active support from the medical fraternity to encourage people to get their jabs, the official said.

    “We coordinated with people from the medical fraternity who responded positively.

    The other approach was to reach out to residential societies and hold vaccination camps there,” Naik said.

    The civic body also worked in coordination with textile and diamond industries to vaccinate the large workforce employed there by setting up camps, he said.

    Recently, the SMC has been sending teams door to door to inform people about the nearby vaccination camps and urging them to get vaccinated, he said.

    According to the state health department, Gujarat has so far administered over 6.25 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses.

  • Over 82.57 crore Covid vaccine doses given to states, Union Territories so far: Government

    Over 4.15 crore balance and unutilised vaccine doses are still available with the states and the union territories for inoculation, it said.

  • Over 74 crore COVID jabs administered in India; all adults in six states, UTs got first dose

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: All adult people in Sikkim, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Himachal Pradesh, Goa, Ladakh, and Lakshadweep have received at least one dose of Covid vaccine as the cumulative jabs administered in the country crossed 74 crore on Sunday, the Union Health Ministry said.

    Around 50,25,159 vaccine doses have been administered till 8 pm on Sunday, according to data from the CoWIN portal.

    “Congratulations to these states and Union Territories for administering the first COVID-19 vaccine dose to 100 per cent of the adult population.

    Special appreciation for the health workers in these regions for their diligence and commitment, the office of Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted.

    Along with the tweet, the office of the Union health minister also put up a chart which stated that Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (6.26 lakh doses), Goa (11.83 lakh doses), Himachal Pradesh (55.74 lakh doses), Ladakh (1.97 lakh doses), Lakshadweep (53,499 doses), and Sikkim (5.10 lakh doses) are the states and UTs with 100 per cent eligible population vaccinated with the first dose of the vaccine.

    The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers getting inoculated in the first phase.

    Vaccination of frontline workers started on February 2.

    The next phase of the COVID-19 vaccination drive commenced from March 1 for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.

    The country launched vaccination for all people aged over 45 years from April 1.

    The government then decided to expand its vaccination drive by allowing everyone above 18 to be vaccinated from May 1.

    The vaccination exercise as a tool to protect the most vulnerable population groups in the country from COVID-19 continues to be regularly reviewed and monitored at the highest level, the ministry said.

  • Covid vaccine is effective after taking both doses, says expert

    By Express News Service

    BENGALURU: Despite the differences in percentage, all vaccines are efficacious against Covid and any vaccine is better than no vaccine, doctors have advised. They said people must take what is easily available to them. 

    Various studies in India say that Covaxin is better than Covishield though their efficacy is similar. However, these studies are limited. If anybody is traveling abroad, it is better for them to take Covishield which is approved by several other countries, said Dr. Subrata Das, Senior Consultant, Internal Medicine & Diabetology, Sakra World Hospital.

    “They all act in different modalities with the end goal of triggering immunity. They could be composed of a part of the virus, the whole inactivated virus, RNA of the virus, etc. 

    Storing the Pfizer vaccine will be hard in India as it has to be maintained at a temperature of -15 degrees to -18 degrees celsius. Russian studies show over 90% efficacy for the Sputnik vaccine,” Dr. Das said, adding that if one has a history of thrombosis (blood clots), stroke, heart attack, etc, they must take a non-Covishield vaccine. 

    ALSO READ | Remdesivir reduces mortality when taken within seven days of symptoms: COVID-19 study

    There is no need to check the antibody levels post-taking the vaccine as some vaccines evoke T-cell immunity (long-term memory of the immune response). Studies against variants are limited, even though companies claim effectiveness against them. We still do not have real-world data on this and need more time, Dr. Das explained. 

    “On the ground, there is no major difference in efficacy. If we are looking at a reduction in the severity of the disease, mortality, and hospitalization, the vaccine is effective after taking both doses. Incidence of respiratory issues such as low oxygen is visible even after the person takes one dose,” said Dr. Anoop Amarnath, Head, Scientific Board and Chairman-Geriatric Medicine, Manipal Hospital and member of the state’s Critical Care Support Team 

    The trials for these vaccines happened in the first and second waves. Hence, their effectiveness against variants are yet to be studied. There is not much data and the Covid vaccine may be similar to the Influenza vaccine, in the sense that the composition might change as per the prevalence of the strain, Dr. Amarnath added. 

    “Primary efficacy data in both Covaxin and Covishield show that they prevent moderate to severe disease with a rate of 65 percent to 80 percent. How much they diminish over time has not been studied yet. Sputnik has reported 85 percent to 90 percent efficacy, while Moderna and Pfizer have reported over 90 percent, with the percentage lowering between 40 percent to 70 percent due to diminishing,” said Dr. Ravindra Mehta, Senior Consultant, and HoD, Pulmonology and Interventional Pulmonology, Apollo Speciality Hospital.

    Check here the efficacy of various vaccines.

    Vaccine ————— Efficacy Sputnik —————97.8 percentSputnik Light——–93.5 percentCovaxin ————–63.6 percent to 93.4 percentCovishield————66.7 percent to 100 percentModerna ————94.1 percentPfizer—————-94 percent to 95 percentZyCoV-D————66.6 percent 

  • Over half of India’s adult population received at least 1 dose of Covid vaccine: Government

    In Sikkim, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Himachal Pradesh all the adult population have got at least one dose of vaccine, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said.