News Analysis India

Tag: Pandemic

  • Was China ready with vaccine even before pandemic? Top virologist feels so

    Express News Service
    BENGALURU: While opinions are building in favour of the Wuhan Laboratory-origin theory of SARS-CoV-2 virus that triggered a pandemic, killing 37.54 lakh people and infecting 17.44 crore worldwide, an eminent Indian virologist has raised the flag on the possibility of China having developed the vaccine in advance to be prepared in case of the virus outbreak or a leak — an indicator of the deadly virus being engineered in the lab.

    This could have helped that country curtail the spread right from the early days. China, with the largest population in the world at 140 crore, recorded just 91,300 Covid-positive cases and 4,636 deaths since December 2019. It is ranked 98 on the list of countries in the order of cases recorded, he said.

    The virologist, Dr T Jacob John, former professor & head of department of Clinical Virology, Christian Medical College, Vellore, said, “There are some mysteries about the Chinese episode (the suspected leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology). China’s Covid-19 pandemic was unique in the world. That means they are hiding something… or they are different…or China had prepared for this in advance. Everything is not what meets the eye.”

    He cited the example of a young Chinese scientist applying for a licence for SARS-CoV-2 vaccine “as early as February 24, 2020”, just two months after the pandemic broke out. “It is far too early to work on a vaccine in just two months. They must have started at least a year earlier,” said Dr John.

    “That young man (the scientist) is dead. There are too many loose ends. China seems to be covering up something, just like any criminal would cover up.”

    Dr T Jacob John said, “There is smoking gun evidence in molecular biology that point to the possibility that it is a lab-manipulated virus.”

    ​Interestingly, as reported by a section of the media, Indian biologists from Kusuma School of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, had reportedly detected four gene insertions in SARS-CoV-2 virus’ spike protein which is its weapon to attach to the human cells and gain entry into the body. This was as early as January 2020. However, the study which was not peer reviewed was withdrawn on February 2 last year.

    Meanwhile, the focus has turned on a report by US government’s Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California, which conducted a study in May 2020, stating that the hypothesis of a virus leak from the Wuhan laboratory was plausible and needs to be investigated thoroughly.

  • Noida traders urge UP CM for fixed electricity charge waiver on lines of Gujarat

    By PTI
    NOIDA: Hit hard by COVID-19, traders from Noida’s Sector 18 market, one of the biggest revenue earners in Uttar Pradesh, on Tuesday urged Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to waive their fixed electricity charge for a period of one year.

    The Sector 18 market association in a letter to Adityanath cited similar support given to the traders in Gujarat by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.

    “As we all know that businesses are running in heavy losses since the first wave of COVID-19 from March 2020. A long lockdown was held in the first phase of the pandemic and now again in the second wave all markets were closed,” Market Association president Sushil Kumar Jain stated in the letter.

    “We from Sector 18 Market Association, Noida request to waive off fixed charge in electricity bills of commercial establishments, traders hotels, resorts, restaurants and water parks affected by the coronavirus pandemic for one year i.e, from April 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022,” he added.

    Jain, also the convenor of the NCR unit of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), said the community has to fix operating losses like electricity, water, rents taxes etc and also have to pay salaries to the staff.

    “We hope that you will waive the fix charges at least to help the traders as already waived by Chief Minister of Gujarat in a sensitive gesture. We hope the same action will be taken by the UP government,” he added.

  • Punjab to administer Covishield 2nd dose after 28 days to those travelling abroad: Minister

    By PTI
    CHANDIGARH: The second dose of the Covishield vaccine will now be administered after 28 days to people who have to travel abroad for specific purposes, Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said on Tuesday.

    He said a competent authority designated by the district administration shall check before giving permission for the administration of the second dose before the stipulated period of 84 days.

    The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued recommendations to provide vaccines to such people who have completed 28 days of their first dose, said Sidhu.

    Students who have to undertake foreign travel for the purpose of education, persons who have to take up jobs in foreign countries, athletes, sportspersons and accompanying staff of Indian contingent attending the Olympic games to be held in Tokyo will be considered as eligible beneficiaries.

    In a statement here, Sidhu said these instructions have been issued to all the Deputy Commissioners for further action so that the maximum number of eligible beneficiaries are vaccinated.

    The minister said that the Punjab government had taken up the issue of reducing the prescribed time for the second dose of Covishield vaccine with the Centre several times to help international travellers, especially students who are not covered in priority groups.

    Sidhu said that it was unfortunate that because of being unable to get full coverage of vaccination, students could not go abroad for their studies even after paying hefty fees.

    The students and their parents have repeatedly urged the Punjab government to reduce the gap for the second dose of Covishield from 84 days.

    On the supply of vaccine doses for the 18-44 age group, Sidhu said the Centre will deliver 1,56,720 Covishield doses on June 11; 1,30,160 on June 17; 1,56,720 on June 19; and 1,32,150 doses on July 1.

    The state will receive 25,000 doses of Covaxin on June 20; 12,000 doses on June 23; and 19,370 doses on June 28. He said that 50,000 doses of Covaxin were received from the Centre on Tuesday.

  • New vaccine policy came after weeks of evaluation and deliberations: Government

    The opposition parties claimed that the new guidelines for vaccination were issued after the Supreme Court questioned the Centre #39;s policy of paid vaccination for the 18-44 age group.

  • Rahul Gandhi’s views carry weight; Centre also implemented them: Raut

    Rahul Gandhi has been attacking the Central government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the vaccination policy and handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Chhattisgarh reports 1,285 new COVID-19 cases, 26 deaths

    By PTI
    RAIPUR: Chhattisgarhs COVID-19 count rose to 9,81,860 on Monday with the addition of 1,285 fresh cases, while the death toll increased by 26 to 13,243, an official said.

    As the state witnesses a steady drop in new infections, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said the second wave of COVID-19 has been brought under control by adopting a strong containment strategy.

    The number of recoveries reached 9,47,527 after 514 people were discharged from various hospitals, while 2,605 others completed their home isolation during the day, the official said.

    The number of active cases in the state now stands at 21,090, he said. Raipur district reported 119 new infections, taking the caseload to 1,56,446, including 3,115 deaths. Jashpur recorded 94 new cases, Bastar 85 and Surguja 81, among other districts, he said.

    With 49,509 samples examined on Monday, the number of tests conducted in the state so far for coronavirus detection went up to 94,83,047, the official said.

    The coronavirus case positivity rate in the state declined to 2.6 per cent on Monday after reaching a high of 30 per cent in April, he said.

    Meanwhile, Chief Minister Baghel, in a statement, said Chhattisgarh has not only brought the second wave of COVID-19 infection under control early with its strong strategy, but it has also been preparing extensively to eliminate the possibility of a third wave.

    Even if the third wave hits the state, it can be dealt more efficiently, he said. “Currently, our emphasis is on controlling the infection completely and expanding the facilities of testing, tracing and treatment in places where people are still getting infected, he added. As many as 71.14 lakh vaccine doses against COVID-19 have been administered to people across all eligible categories in Chhattisgarh till Sunday (June 6), the official said.

    Chhattisgarhs coronavirus figures are as follows: Positive cases 9,81,860, new cases 1,285, death toll 13,243, recovered 9,47,527, active cases 21,090, total tests so far 94,83,047.

  • Over 23.59 crore Covid vaccine doses administered in India: Government

    16,07,531 beneficiaries in the age group of 18-44 years received the first dose and 68,661 in the age group received the second dose of the vaccine on Monday.

  • Government confident of vaccinating all adults by December with estimated supply of 187 crore doses: Officials

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Asserting that India is on track to vaccinate its entire adult population by December, top officials on Monday said a blueprint is in place to ensure a total supply of 187.2 crore doses by the year-end that would be enough for the country’s 94 crore 18-plus population.

    Refuting questions raised by some critics about the government’s vaccination strategy, they said while India will have 53.6 crore doses between January and July, the supply will zoom to 133.6 crore doses in the August-December period with more firms joining the supply chain and the existing ones ramping up their production.

    India is also in talks with foreign companies like Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, and if it enters into procurement deals with them then the vaccine supply will be further boosted, while work on more domestic vaccines is also underway, they said.

    Speaking to a group of reporters soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Centre will now provide free vaccination to the entire adult population and take over the 25 per cent procurement quota of states, the officials said “fluctuating” and even “contradictory” stands of states had an adverse impact on the vaccination programme in May.

    Of an estimated procurement of 53.6 crore doses by July this year, the direct procurement by states and private hospitals is projected at about 18 crore. Officials also said that 6.6 crore doses (5.6 crore Covishield and 1 crore Covaxin doses) are estimated to have been procured for the January-July period through Rs 1,392.8 crore received from the PM CARES Fund, 1 crore doses from GAVI COVAX facility and 28 crore doses through two domestic budgetary support orders (totalling Rs 4,410 crore).

    Officials said the government has procured over 22.2 crore doses and supplied to states/UTs so far free of cost, while total doses procured directly by states/UTs stood at 2.87 crore.

    They also listed names of chief ministers who have recently requested for a centralised procurement by the Union Government and said these included CMs of Punjab, Kerala, Sikkim, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, Tripura and Maharashtra.

    With the Centre back to procuring entire vaccine production, save for the 25 per cent meant for the private sector, and taking measures to end any “inequity”, regional or technological, and vaccination production going up, the drive will gain more momentum, they said.

    The speed has already picked up with the number of vaccine doses administered rising steadily from 28 lakh on May 30 to 33.5 lakhs on June 5.

    On-site registration of vaccines has been made available and small private hospitals in distant regions, who were unable to compete with bigger facilities in procurement, states can now undertake their “demand aggregation” so that the government can channelise supply to them, they said.

    The Centre will also tell states in advance about vaccine availability for a month so that they can plan accordingly.

    Asked about concerns that COVID-19 may hit children more in its next spurt, the officials noted there is no scientific backing to this apprehension and also added that serosurveys have found almost the same prevalence of infection among them as for adults. However, the severity of the disease is much less among kids, they added.

    They also rejected criticism about the Centre’s decision to restrict vaccination programme to a certain popular age group, saying India acted no differently from many other countries, including France, Canada, the UK among others.

    “Our priority is to vaccinate all adult Indians in the shortest span of time, and we are on track to do so,” an official said.

    To a question about some private hospitals reportedly not happy with the price cap of Rs 150 as service charge for every dose, they said a majority of them has found it “reasonable” given the huge scale of volumes.

  • If vaccines are free for all, why should private hospitals charge for them, Rahul asks

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: “If vaccines are free for all, why should private hospitals charge for them?” Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asked on Monday as the opposition party demanded universal free vaccination against COVID-19, after the prime minister announced that his government will provide free jabs to states for inoculation of all above the age of 18.

    The Congress also sought to credit the Supreme Court for the change in the Centre’s vaccination policy and said the announcement came after the apex court reprimanded it and sought an affidavit on the inoculation drive.

    In an address to the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the Centre has decided to buy 75 per cent of jabs from vaccine makers, including 25 per cent of the state quota, and give it for free to state governments, while private sector hospitals can continue to procure the remaining 25 per cent.

    After PM Modi’s address, Gandhi tweeted, “One simple question – If vaccines are free for all, why should private hospitals charge for them.” He used #FreeVaccineForAll hashtag with his tweet.

    Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, “The prime minister is guilty of endangering the lives of Indians by repeatedly changing the (vaccination) policy and instead of accusing the states, he should be tendering an apology for endangering people’s lives.” Surjewala reiterated the demand for universal free vaccination and said the government should also transfer Rs 6,000 into bank accounts of the poor to help them cope with the impact of the pandemic and the resultant lockdown.

    He alleged that the government has brought these changes in its vaccination policy after it was reprimanded by the Supreme Court.

    Some states had gone to the apex court against the Centre’s vaccination policy alleging that it is not uniform.

    Surjewala said the Modi government has changed its vaccine policy thrice on January 16, May 1 and now today.

    Accusing the prime minister of endangering the lives of indians, he asked if he would take responsibility.

    “Why burden the middle class and the salaried people with payments in private hospitals,” he asked. “Why not transfer Rs 6000 in the accounts of every poor considering there have been two crore job losses in the second wave of coronavirus,” he asked.

    Surjewala claimed that at the current vaccination rate with the average between January 16 and June 7 being only 15.46 lakh jabs per day, it will take 1,091 days, or till May 2024, to inoculate all. “Then, how will you vaccinate 100 crore people by December 2021, as promised,” he asked, alleging that only 4.61 crore have been fully vaccinated in last six months, which is 3.28 per cent of the population.

    The Congress has been demanding free vaccination for all and has urged the Centre to procure the jabs and provide them to states.

    The Congress on its official Twitter handle said, “Modi ji – stop with the tokenism, it will not heal the deep wounds you’ve inflicted on our nation. Instead – apologise and not give lectures”.

    Congress leader and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said, “Thank PM Narendra Modi Ji for acceding to our request of central procurement and distribution of vaccine for all age-groups.

    I had written twice to Narendra Modi Ji on this issue and to (Health Minister) Harsh Vardhan Ji suggesting this as the only feasible solution to Covid Vaccine crisis.

    “Another Congress Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot of Rajasthan, said PM Modi should inform which states had demanded that vaccines should be procured and provided for 18-44 years age group.”

    “To my knowledge, no state had made such a demand and it seems that the prime minister has been misinformed,” he said on Twitter.

    Gehlot also said that many states, including Rajasthan, had moved the Supreme Court against the Centre’s vaccination policy and the result of which is that the prime minister had to change it.

  • Delayed decision cost many lives: Mamata on PM’s vaccine announcement

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Monday that the decision on vaccinating all above the age of 18 for free should have been taken long back and the delay has cost many lives.

    Reacting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement of free vaccination for all adults, Banerjee said that it took him four months to listen to the pleas of the states.

    “Back in Feb ’21 & multiple times thereafter, I’d written to the PM stating our long standing demand to provide vaccines to ALL for FREE.

    Took him 4 months but after much pressure, he has FINALLY listened to us & implemented what we’ve been asking all this while,” she tweeted.

    “The well-being of the people of India should’ve been prioritized since the very start of this pandemic. Unfortunately, this delayed decision by PM has already cost many lives. Hoping for a better managed #VaccinationDrive this time that focuses on people & not propaganda!,” she added.

    Modi announced that the central government will provide free coronavirus vaccines to states for inoculation of all above the age of 18 from June 21, and asserted that vaccine supply would be increased significantly in the country in the coming days.