Tag: COVID vaccines

  • Covid vaccination lowers chances of hospitalisation by 75-80 per cent: Govt

    Almost 85 per cent decline has been noted in daily new cases since the highest reported peak on May 7, it said.

  • 5,000 Pakistani refugees to get COVID-19 jabs in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore

    By PTI
    INDORE: About 5,000 Pakistani refugees from the Hindu Sindhi community living in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore will be administered COVID-19 vaccines, an official said on Sunday.

    The representatives of the Pakistani refugees from the Hindu Sindhi community had recently requested the administration for anti- coronavirus inoculation, District Immunization Officer Dr Praveen Jadia told PTI.

    “This demand has been accepted following the state government’s approval. These Pakistani refugees will now be able to receive anti-coronavirus jabs at the city’s vaccination centres by showing their passport as the identity card,” he said.

    Jadia estimated that about 5,000 Pakistani refugees are living in Indore and most of them are settled in the city’s Sindhi Colony area.

    “We are administering anti-COVID 19 doses to all adults on humanitarian grounds. Last month, we had vaccinated a Dutch citizen who had come to Indore for some work,” he recalled.

    Indore district, which is the worst hit by the pandemic in Madhya Pradesh, has so far recorded 1.52 lakh COVID-19 cases including 1,370 fatalities, according to officials.

    About 13.53 lakh people were administered the first dose of the vaccine in the Indore district while 2.35 lakh people had received both doses.

  • COVID-19: Assam forms 2,000 teams to vaccinate 3 lakh people daily

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: Assam Health Minister Keshab Mahanta on Saturday said that the state government has formed 2,000 teams to vaccinate three lakh people every day provided an adequate number of doses are available.

    He said the state administration has an adequate stock of Covaxin for administering the second dose to people in the 18-44 years age group.

    “We have kept ready 2,000 teams who could vaccinate four lakh people every day. But, for now, we are targeting to inoculate three lakh people daily if we get the vaccines. We hope that the availability of vaccines will increase in the coming days,” he told reporters.

    Mahanta, in a tweet on Friday night, he said that the state has a total stock of 3,80,900 vaccines, including 2,43,460 for those above 45 years of age and 1,37,440 for the 18-44 years age group.

    Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had earlier said that the state had a capacity to inoculate 1 lakh people every day but it had to vaccinate less than half its capacity on most days since the beginning of the vaccination drive due to a shortage of supply.

    Mahanta said the Health Department is now focussing more on administering the second dose to people in the 18-44 years category, while the drive for those above 45 years of age is also underway.

    “We had issues regarding the second dose of Covaxin due to short supply. We requested every district to let us know about their requirement for the second dose and are supplying them the vaccine accordingly,” he said.

    The health minister said that the government will be able to administer the second dose of Covaxin to 1.92 lakh people in the 18-44 years category within the stipulated time frame as it has received the required stock from the manufacturer.

    He said that 6.06 lakh people of the 12-lakh population of Guwahati have already been vaccinated.

    “We have launched a special vaccination drive in the city from today and hope to cross the seven lakh mark within the next two days. After that, only around three lakh eligible people will be remaining,” he said.

    After a gap of 13 days, Assam vaccinated more than 50,000 people on Tuesday, with 62,198 people getting the jabs.

    The number, however, fell again to 41,565 the next day, a National Health Mission bulletin said.

    On Thursday, the state saw the highest vaccination after 39 days at 93,514 jabs, which came down to 83,054 doses on Friday, it added.

  • Could have procured vaccines for all with money collected in taxes on fuel: Priyanka slams Centre

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Attacking the Centre, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday said a lot could have been done, including procuring vaccines for all, with the money collected in taxes on petrol and diesel during the COVID-19 pandemic, but nothing was done.

    Congress leaders and party workers on Friday held symbolic protests at petrol pumps in several parts of the city, demanding a complete rollback of fuel price hike.

    In a tweet, Priyanka Gandhi said, “During the pandemic, Modi government collected taxes on petrol-diesel: Rs 2.74 lakh crore.”

    “What all could have been done with this money: Vaccines for the whole country (Rs 67,000 crore)+ oxygen plants in 718 districts+ AIIMS hospital in 29 states + Rs 6,000 as help to 25 crore poor people.

    But nothing was done,” the Congress general secretary tweeted in Hindi using the hashtag ‘BJPLootingIndia’.

  • BJP leader Sushil Modi suggests levying 0.1 per cent CGST, SGST on COVID-19 vaccines

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Senior BJP leader Sushil Modi on Tuesday suggested levying 0.1 per cent each of CGST and SGST on vaccines, oxygen ventilators and other essential medical devices required for treating coronavirus infections.

    Modi was closely associated with the GST Council during his tenure as the Finance Minister of Bihar.

    He had also served as the Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar.

    While the GST Council is expected to soon take a call on the GST (Goods and Services Tax) rates for these items, Modi said the most feasible option appears to be to charge a nominal tax and make them more affordable amid the pandemic.

    Currently, there is a 5 per cent GST on domestically-manufactured vaccines while it is 12 per cent for COVID drugs and oxygen concentrators.

    “Giving exemption from GST to COVID vaccines, ventilators or other essential medical devices may not be a feasible option as it will eventually increase prices for the end users, as manufacturers would not get the input tax credit,” Modi told PTI.

    Modi also pointed out that bringing these medical devices and vaccines “zero-rated under the GST regime would require amendment in the GST Act from all State Assemblies and Parliament, which will be a time consuming step”.

    “My suggestion would be to charge 0.1 per cent, both CGST and SGST, on vaccines, oxygen ventilators, oxygen concentrators, thermometers and other essential drugs and medical devices required for treatment of COVID.

    By doing this, manufacturers can claim input tax credit while prices will be relatively lower,” Modi said.

    He emphasised that it was his personal view and ultimately, the Council will take a call.

    CGST refers to Central GST while SGST stands for State GST.

    Emphasising that the ultimate aim is not to garner revenues but to help end consumers, he also suggested that drugs and medical devices should be treated as deemed export items.

    Describing the GST Council as “a successful example” of cooperative federalism, he said that till date, barring one occasion, all decisions taken by the Council were unanimous.

    On May 28, the GST Council could not decide on tweaking taxes on COVID vaccines and medical supplies as the BJP and Opposition-ruled states sparred over whether tax cut benefits will reach the common man.

    The Council then decided to set up a Group of Ministers (GoM) to decide on GST relief on COVID essentials.

    The GoM submitted its report to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who is chairing the Council, on Monday.

    The report of the panel of state ministers would be discussed in the next GST Council meeting, which is expected soon.

  • Covishield produced more antibodies than Covaxin, says preliminary study

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: The Covishield vaccine produced more antibodies than Covaxin, according to a preliminary study by Coronavirus Vaccine-induced Antibody Titre (COVAT) involving healthcare workers (HCW) who have received both doses of either of the two vaccines.

    Seropositivity rates to anti-spike antibody were significantly higher in Covishield recipients compared to Covaxin after the first dose, the study claimed.

    The study is a preprint and has not been peer-reviewed, so should not be used to guide clinical practice.

    It said that both vaccines – Covishield and Covaxin – elicited a good response after two doses, but seropositivity rate and median anti-spike antibody were significantly higher in Covishield.

    Initial data on the immunogenicity of Covishield & Covaxin .Anti S assessed after a mth of 2nd doseAutoimmune patients have lower immunogenicity than controls.2, Covishield appears to more immunogenic than Covaxin @drharshvardhan @GKangInd @PMOIndia https://t.co/2TnCEVH9mL pic.twitter.com/AYC443Ya4U

    — Padmanabha shenoy (@drdpshenoy) June 6, 2021

    “Amongst the 552 HCW (325 Male, 227 Female), 456 and 96 received the first dose of Covishield and Covaxin respectively. Overall, 79.3 per cent showed seropositivity after the first dose. Responder rate and median (IQR) rise in anti-spike antibody were significantly higher in Covishield vs Covaxin recipient (86.8 vs. 43.8 per cent; 61.5 vs 6 AU/ml; both p<0.001),” the study said.

    The study involved those healthcare workers who have been administered either of the two vaccines, Covishield and Covaxin, and are with or without past history of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

    “This ongoing, Pan-India, Cross-sectional, Coronavirus Vaccine-induced Antibody Titre (COVAT) study is being conducted amongst HCW, with or without past history of SARS-CoV-2 infection. SARS-CoV-2 anti-spike binding antibody is being assessed quantitatively at four timepoints between 21 days or more after the first dose to 6 months after the second dose,” the study said.

    However, the conclusion of the study said that both the vaccines have elicited good immune response.

    “While both vaccines elicited immune response, seropositivity rates to anti-spike antibody were significantly higher in Covishield recipient compared to Covaxin after the first dose. Ongoing COVAT study will further enlighten the immune response between two vaccines after the second dose,” it said.

    ALSO WATCH | 

  • Private hospitals received over 1.20 crore doses of Covid vaccines in May: Centre

    A large number of private hospitals that had a contract with Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech have been supplied with Covishield and Covaxin doses respectively.

  • In talks with major pharma firms to source, locally manufacture COVID-19 vaccines: Foreign Secy 

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Discussions are underway with major pharma companies about sourcing and possibly manufacturing their COVID-19 jabs locally while India is looking forward to WHO’s nod for Bharat Biotech’s indigenously developed vaccine, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Thursday.

    Addressing the World Health Organisation’s South-East Asia Regional Health Partners’ Forum on COVID-19 he also said the government has worked with key partners to ease regulatory disruptions to vaccine supply chains through diplomatic interventions.

    India is fighting an “exceptionally severe” second wave of the contagion and it will participate in the process of creating global scale capacities that are needed to deal with pandemic-scale challenges, Shringla said.

    He said a number of serious global conversations are underway on this in platforms such as the G7, G20, QUAD, BRICS, the United Nations and WHO itself.

    India is also working with several other countries in the WTO on a targeted and temporary waiver under TRIPS to ensure timely and secure access to vaccines for all, the foreign secretary said.

    The country will participate fully in the international process of regeneration through building newer and more resilient supply chains by focusing on newer technologies, knowledge-driven opportunities and leveraging its strengths and capacities.

    “We are also part of discussions with major vaccine manufacturers like Pfizer, Johnson and Johnson, and Moderna about sourcing and possible local manufacturing of their vaccines in India.

    We have also helped to expedite the introduction of the Sputnik-V vaccine.

    “Vaccines have complex supply chains. We have worked to ease regulatory disruptions to these supply chains with key partners through diplomatic interventions.

    We are also looking forward to WHO’s approval for India’s indigenous vaccine made by Bharat Biotech,” Shringla said.

    ALSO WATCH:

    He said the COVID-19 pandemic is now well into its second year and India is fighting an “exceptionally severe” second wave.

    “We have lived through a series of extraordinary stresses and shocks. We are dealing with unprecedented economic and social disruptions and distress.”

    Challenges of nature like the coronavirus pandemic require a response at multiple levels.

    Nationally, it requires not just a whole-of-government approach but a whole-of-society approach.

    It also is required that solutions and capacities are sourced globally basis, he said.

    WHO is one of the key constituents in a global array of players dealing with the pandemic, the foreign secretary stressed.

    “At a strategic level, we have a keen awareness of the uncertainty that pervades the entire global system. This has altered geopolitical and geoeconomic conduct. Trust and transparency have been affected, there is heightened risk aversion and confidence in globalisation has been affected,” he said.

    What is often termed as the “global system”, for lack of a better word, is seen as inadequate to the challenges posed by the pandemic, Shringla said, adding the new realities of the pandemic placed unprecedented demands on the Government of India, including the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

    Elaborating the operations of the MEA during the second wave, he said India has acted as the global arm of the Government of India’s empowered group to procure essential raw materials and medical supplies for COVID-19.

    “We had to create, literally overnight, new capacities to try and cope with a Black Swan event. We have had to innovate, to repurpose and to re-engineer and create an entirely new vertical for pandemic diplomacy,” Shringla said.

    Throughout the pandemic, it has identified and connected with potential suppliers of essential medicines, raw materials and medical equipment across the world.

    The MEA and its network of diplomatic posts played a key role in organising the Vande Bharat Mission, the largest logistical exercise of its kind ever undertaken.

    This has facilitated the movement of 7 million people through the lockdown and post-lockdown periods.

    During the first Covid wave last year, a global sourcing operation was launched to procure ventilators, PPE kits, test kits and others.

    These helped India to tide over the situation till domestic manufacturing scaled up to meet the demand, Shringla said.

    A total of 91 cargo flights were organised between April and August 2020 to bring in these supplies, he said.

    “The effort to procure urgently needed medical supplies was reactivated during the second wave.

    We have been a vital part of a global effort to source liquid medical oxygen, cryogenic ISO tankers, zeolites and essential medicines like Remdesivir, Tocilizumab and Amphotericin B.

    “These have been sourced from multiple nations and moved to multiple destinations in India,” Shringla said, adding the MEA will continue to facilitate supplies of essential raw materials and components.

  • After Pfizer, Serum Institute seeks indemnity over COVID-19 vaccine: Sources

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: Amid discussions over possible legal protection to foreign vaccine manufacturers Pfizer and Moderna over their COVID-19 jabs in India, the Serum Institute of India (SII) has also sought protection against liabilities, sources said on Thursday.

    “Not just Serum Institute of India, all the vaccine companies should get indemnity protection against liabilities if foreign companies are granted the same,” sources added.

    Earlier last year, SII CEO Adar Poonawala had advocated for indemnity for all vaccine manufacturers.

    “We need to have the government indemnify manufacturers, especially vaccine manufacturers, against all lawsuits… Frivolous claims come up and you see in the media something being blown out of proportion. The government needs to step in with the right messaging,” he had said.

    Amid the nationwide COVID-19 vaccine crunch, US pharma giant Pfizer is seeking an indemnity bond that will exempt it from legal claims in case there are any adverse effects from the vaccine.

    NITI Aayog Member (Health) Dr VK Paul had said on May 27 that the government is still examining the American pharma company’s request for indemnity.

    “We are examining this request and will make a decision in the larger interest of people and on merit. This is under discussion and there is no decision as of now,” he had said.

    No company in India’s vaccination history has ever paid indemnity and the government, which is the biggest user of vaccines, has also not done it, Dr Nirmal K Ganguly, former ICMR chief had said on Wednesday.

    The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had earlier exempted specific trials of COVID-19 vaccines that have been approved by some other international regulatory bodies. This is likely to clear the way of foreign COVID-19 vaccines such as Pfizer and Moderna.

    DCGI Chief VG Somani said in a letter that the decision will be applicable for vaccines that have already been approved for restricted use by the US FDA, EMA, UK MHRA, PMDA Japan or listed for Emergency Use by the World Health Organisation.

    Pfizer said in a statement that it continues to remain engaged with the Indian government towards making its coronavirus vaccine available for use in the government immunisation programme. 

  • Nearly 12 crore doses of Covid vaccine to be available in June: Health Ministry

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Nearly 12 crore doses of coronavirus vaccine will be available in June, the Health Ministry said on Sunday.

    In May, 7,94 crore doses were available for vaccination.

    In a statement, the ministry said the allocation of supplies to states and union territories is decided on the consumption pattern, population and vaccine wastage.

    “Visibility for availability of vaccines for the entire month of June 2021 has been provided well in advance to States/UTs,” it said.

    “For the month of June, 6.09 crore (6,09,60,000) doses of COVID vaccines will be supplied to the States and UTs for vaccination of priority group of Health Care Workers (HCWs), Front-Line Workers (FLWs) and person aged 45 years + and above as free supply from Government of India,” the ministry said.

    “In addition, more than 5.86 crore (5,86,10,000) doses will be available for direct procurement by the state/UTs and Private Hospitals.

    Therefore, in June 2021 close to 12 crore (11,95,70,000) doses will be available for the national COVID vaccination programme,” it said.

    The ministry said the delivery schedule for this allocation will be shared with states in advance.

    “States have been requested to direct the concerned officials to ensure rational and judicious utilization of allocated doses and minimize the vaccine wastage.

    The basic objective behind informing the States/UTs in advance of the quantum of free vaccine doses to be made available from Centre for 15/30 days and the total vaccine doses which are available for direct procurement by States/UTs is to ensure better planning and delivery of vaccine by States/UTs,” it said.

    For the month of May, 4,03,49,830 vaccine doses have been made available by the Union Government to states.

    In addition, 3,90,55,370 doses were available for direct procurement by the states as well as private hospitals in May.

    “Therefore, in May 2021 a total number of 7,94,05,200 doses were available for the national COVID vaccination programme,” the ministry said.