News Analysis India

Tag: COVID19

  • Covaxin Brazil pricing: Bharat Biotech denies receiving advance payments, supplying vaccines

    By ANI
    HYDERABAD: Issuing clarification on COVAXIN pricing controversy in Brazil, Bharat Biotech on Tuesday said it followed a step-by-step regulatory approval process during the eight-month period, but the company has neither received any advance payments nor supplied any vaccines to Brazil’s Ministry of Health (MOH) as of now.

    “In the specific case of procurement of COVAXIN by MOH Brazil, since the first meetings with MOH Brazil during Nov 2020, until June 29, 2021, a step by step approach has been followed towards contracts, and regulatory approvals, during this eight-month-long process. Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) received on June 4.  As of June 29, Bharat Biotech has not received any advance payments nor supplied any vaccines to MOH Brazil. Bharat Biotech has followed a similar approach towards contracts, regulatory approvals and supplies in several countries worldwide, where COVAXIN is being supplied successfully,” the company statement said.

    The Hyderabad-based company clarified that the pricing of COVAXIN has been clearly established between USD 15 to USD 20 per dose for supplies to governments outside India. “The pricing for Brazil has also been indicated at USD 15 per dose. Bharat Biotech has received advance payments from several other countries at the above price points, with supplies in process, pending approvals,” it adds.

    As per Bharat biotech, Precisa Medicamentos is a partner in Brazil, providing assistance, guidance and support with regulatory submissions, licensure, distribution, insurance, the conduct of phase III clinical trials, among other things and the Hyderabad-based vaccine maker follows a similar partnership model in all countries, where its vaccines are supplied, as it does not have its own offices in these countries.

    The company also revealed that they are conducting a 5,000 subject phase III clinical trial in Brazil, which was recently approved by ANVISA. The trial will be conducted by the Albert Einstein Institute. “Bharat Biotech and Precisa Medicamentos are conducting a 5000 subject phase III clinical trial in Brazil, which was recently approved by ANVISA. The trial will be conducted by the Albert Einstein Institute,” the statement reads.

    However, as per the company, COVAXIN has now received Emergency Use Authorizations in 16 countries including, Brazil, India, the Philippines, Iran, Mexico, among others and the company is in process of getting EUAs in 50 other countries worldwide.

    “Bharat Biotech is in discussions with WHO to obtain Emergency Use Listing for COVAXIN. The product has been exported to several countries, with additional requests for supplies being received,” the company said.

    Amid a probe into accusations of irregularities against President Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s health minister has announced that the country will suspend a USD 324 million contract to buy 20 million doses of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin.

    Addressing a press conference on Tuesday with Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga, the head of the Federal Comptroller General (CGU) Wagner Rosario, said that the agency will investigate the process of purchasing the vaccine.

    “We suspended the deal as a simple preventive measure, since there are complaints that could not be explained well by the complainant, so we opened a preliminary investigation last week,” said Rosario, as quoted by CNN Brasil. “We have put in a reinforced team for the verification. We hope to be very quick in this process, and we hope that in no more than 10 days we will already have an answer for this analysis,”; he added.

    Brazil’s Health minister Queiroga said his ministry is going to carry out an administrative investigation to verify all aspects of the issue that are being raised. “As soon as we have more concrete data, we will communicate,” said Queiroga.

    The contract for the acquisition of the Covaxin vaccine was signed by the two sides in February for the import of 20 million doses of vaccine by Bharat Biotech.

  • 49 per cent of those aged 60 years & above vaccinated with first dose of COVID vaccine: Government

    The government said that cumulative vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 33.1 crore so far.

  • Have some authority to certify if candidate can’t take CA exams due to COVID: SC to ICAI

    The apex court was hearing a batch of pleas seeking different reliefs including an opt-out option for the candidates, postponement of the exam, and increase in number of centres this year.

  • State has controlled second wave of COVID-19 pandemic: Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani

    By PTI

    AHMEDABAD: The second wave of the coronavirus pandemic has come under control in Gujarat though the threat of coronavirus remains, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said on Tuesday, a day after the state reported less than 100 fresh cases in a day after a gap of 14 months.

    In a virtual address, the CM said that the fight against the pandemic is still on as coronavirus is still around. Gujarat on Monday reported 96 new infections which took the cumulative caseload to 8,23,340, as per the state health department.

    The state had reported 78 COVID-19 cases on April 14 last year and 127 cases a day later. On April 30 this year, when the second wave was at its peak, Gujarat recorded the highest 14,605 cases in a single day. “The second wave of coronavirus is almost under control now. As against over 14,000 daily cases getting registered during its peak, less than 100 cases emerged yesterday. However, the virus is still not eradicated and our fight against COVID-19 is still on,” Rupani said while addressing the function to distribute uniforms to the students of Anganwadis.

    As per a release issued by the state government, Gujarat has become the first and only state in the country to provide uniforms to the Anganwadi students. Under this initiative, 14 lakh children enrolled in 53,029 Anganwadis or child care centres across Gujarat will be given free uniforms.

    The state government would spend Rs 36.28 crore on this scheme which is aimed at motivating these children, the chief minister said.

  • Ex-Maharashtra minister Anil Deshmukh fails to appear before ED, requests for virtual interaction

    By PTI
    MUMBAI: Former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh did not appear before the ED in connection with a money laundering case on Tuesday, citing COVID-19 and his old age, and requested for a virtual interaction on a day suitable for the central agency.

    The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had asked the 71-year-old NCP leader to appear before it at 11 am on Tuesday, after he did not depose before the investigating officer here on Saturday.

    Deshmukh had on Saturday sought a fresh date for appearance in the money laundering case related to an alleged multi-crore bribery-cum-extortion racket that led to his resignation from the post of home minister in April this year.

    On Tuesday, Deshmukh submitted a letter to the agency through his lawyer Inderpal Singh as authorised representative, in compliance with the summons. In the letter, Deshmukh requested for a copy of the ECIR (Enforcement Case Information Report) and other documents from the ED.

    “I am a law abiding citizen. I am sanguine to expose the falsity, hollowness and lack of substance in the allegations levelled against me,” he said in the letter. Deshmukh also cited COVID-19 times and the fear of exposure (to the infection) due to his age and co-morbidities and sent his lawyer as the authorised representative. “I am a septuagenarian, about 72 year of age, and suffering from various co-morbidities, including hypertension and cardiac problems,” he mentioned in the letter.

    Deshmukh also said he already had a long interaction with the probe agency officials on June 25, spanning over several hours, during the course of search and recording of his statement. He reiterated that he will furnish all information and any document that the ED may require once he is aware of the content and details of the ECIR.

    “I am at your disposal through any audio-visual mode of interaction at any time convenient to your good self, today or any other day, any time so convenient,” Deshmukh said in the letter.

    Meanwhile, Deshmukh’s lawyer told mediapersons that they were cooperating with the probe agency and will continue to do so in future too. “We are providing documents to them and have requested for a new date (for appearance),” said the lawyer.

    After receiving the required documents from ED officials, Deshmukh will appear before the agency, he said.

    The ED on Saturday arrested Deshmukh’s personal secretary Sanjeev Palande (51) and personal assistant Kundan Shinde (45) after it carried out raids against them and the NCP leader in Mumbai and Nagpur on Friday.

    The ED’s case against Deshmukh and others was made out after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) first carried out a preliminary enquiry followed by a regular case being filed on the orders of the Bombay High Court.

    The court had asked the CBI to look into the allegations of bribery made against Deshmukh by former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh. Deshmukh, who resigned from his post in April following the allegations, has denied any wrongdoing.

  • Opposition in Assam in quarantine during COVID-19 pandemic: BJP president JP Nadda

    By PTI
    GUWAHATI: The opposition parties in Assam were in quarantine with some in the ICU during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, BJP president JP Nadda said on Tuesday. The opposition parties emerge only during elections as “political tourists” but after that, they are nowhere to be seen, Nadda claimed while addressing a meeting of the state BJP executive virtually.

    “All the (opposition) parties were in quarantine with some having reached the ICU. It was the BJP members who reached out to those in distress,” he said. Nadda urged the party’s newly-appointed state unit president Bhabesh Kalita and Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to take up vaccination of all eligible people in the state on a “mission mode”.

    He asked Kalita to ensure that all party workers are engaged in vaccination awareness drives throughout the state to remove any hesitancy, if it still exists. Nadda thanked the people of Assam for defeating the “forces of communalism and corruption” and putting their faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s development agenda.

  • COVID-19 curfew extended for another week in Uttarakhand

    By PTI
    DEHRADUN: COVID curfew in Uttarakhand has been extended by another week till July 6 with more relaxations. An order issued by Chief Secretary Om Prakash said that the extended curfew, which came into effect on Tuesday, will remain in force till 6 am on July 6.

    Giving more relaxations, shops and business establishments have been allowed to open six days a week instead of five. They will remain open even on Sundays in the two popular tourist spots of Mussoorie and Nainital, the order said.

    Markets in these towns will remain closed on Tuesday. Gyms and coaching centres for job aspirants have also been allowed to open with 50 per cent occupancy. However, educational institutions, training institutes, malls and cinema halls will remain closed till further orders. Permission for online classes and distance learning remains in place.

    Registering on the smart city portal at the start of their journey and bringing a negative RT-PCR or Rapid Antigen test report not older than 72 hours will be compulsory for people coming to the state from outside or those going to hill areas from the plains.

    Hotels, restaurants and roadside eateries can open with 50 per cent of their capacity.

  • India achieves milestone of conducting 40 crore COVID-19 tests: ICMR

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: India has achieved the milestone of conducting 40 crore COVID-19 tests, with the average of more than 18 lakh tests per day in the month of June, the ICMR said on Saturday. India has tested 40,18,11,892 samples across the country till Friday, it said.

    The country tested 35 crore COVID-19 samples till June 1, 2021. “This has been enabled by rapidly increasing testing infrastructure and capacity across the country. ICMR has been enhancing COVID-19 testing capability across the country by expanding and diversifying testing capacity by leveraging technology and facilitating innovation in affordable diagnostic kits,” the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said in a statement.

    Prof Balram Bhargava, Director General, ICMR said exponential increase in testing has led to early identification, prompt isolation and effective treatment of COVID-19 cases. These have eventually resulted in a sustained low fatality rate.

    “This testing milestone is testimony to the fact that India has been successful in implementing the strategy of 5T approach ‘Test, Track, Trace, Treat and use of Technology’ efficiently, which will enable us to contain the spread of the pandemic,” the statement quoted Bhargava as saying.

  • Over 1.45 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses available with states: Centre

    The states and union territories have so far got over 31.17 crore vaccine doses through the free-of-cost channel of the central government and direct procurement.

  • India records 48,698 fresh cases of COVID-19 in a day, weekly positivity rate falls below 3 per cent

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: A single-day rise of 48,698 COVID-19 infections took India’s case tally to 3,01,83,143 while the weekly positivity rate declined to 2.97 per cent, according to Union Health Ministry data on Saturday.

    The death toll climbed to 3,94,493 with 1,183 more people succumbing to the viral disease in a day. The number of active cases has further declined to 5,95,565 and now accounts for 1.97 per cent of the total infections, the data updated at 8 am showed.

    Recoveries outnumbered daily new cases of COVID-19 for the 44th consecutive day with the number of people who have recuperated from the disease surging to 2,91,93,085. The case fatality rate stood at 1.31 per cent.

    While the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 96.72 per cent, the weekly case positivity rate has come down to 2.97 per cent. According to the Health Ministry data, the daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.79 per cent.

    It has been less than 5 per cent for 19 consecutive days. India administered 61.19 lakh vaccine doses in a day taking the cumulative number of jabs given so far under the nationwide inoculation drive to 31.50 crore, according to immunisation data published at 7 am.

    Also, 17,35,781 tests were conducted on Friday for the detection of COVID-19, taking the total number of tests conducted so far in the country to 39,95,68,448. India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7 last year, 30 lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.

    It went past 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. The country crossed the grim milestone of two crore total COVID-19 cases on May 4 this year and three crore on June 23.