Coronavirus vaccine news highlights: UK's Queen Elizabeth and husband receive Covid-19 vaccines

India will launch its Covid-19 vaccination drive on January 16 and priority will be given to nearly three crore healthcare and frontline workers, the government said on Saturday. The decision was taken after Prime Minister Narendra Modi reviewed the status of Covid-19 situation and vaccine preparedness.

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Queen Elizabeth and husband receive vaccines

Britain's Queen Elizabeth and her husband Philip have receivedvaccinationsagainst Covid-19, Buckingham Palace said on Saturday. (Reuters)

"Bhopal volunteer passed away nine days after the dosing and preliminary reviews indicate that the death is unrelated to the study dosing. We cannot confirm if the volunteer received the study vaccine or a placebo as the study is blinded,” Bharat Biotech said on Saturday.

Rajasthan Chief secretary Niranjan Arya on Saturday briefed Union Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba about the preparations for the rollout of the coronavirusvaccinationprogramme in the state.

A digitalvaccinedelivery management system to give real-time info onvaccinestocks, storage temperature, tracking of beneficiaries, said GoI.

Vaccination drive in India to kick off on Jan 16, 2021

Vaccination drive to kick off on Jan 16, 2021. Priority will be given to the healthcare workers and the frontline workers, estimated to be around 3 cr, followed by those above 50 years and the under-50 population groups with co-morbidities numbering around 27 cr,Govt of India said on Saturday

PM Narendra Modi willinaugurate two Covid-19 vaccination sites virtually in Karnataka, a hospital in Bengaluru and another hospital in Hubbali, says Karnataka Health and Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar.

With two Covid-19 vaccines, India ready to save humanity, says PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that India is ready to protect humanity with not one but two 'Made in India' Covid-19 vaccine.

"In the Corona era, today India is among the countries with the lowest mortality and highest recovery rate in the world. Today, India is ready to protect humanity with not one, but two Made in India corona vaccines," PM Modi said.

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As the coronavirus mutates, the world stumbles to respond once again

Doctors and nurses at a South African hospital group noticed an odd spike in the number of Covid-19 patients in their wards in late October. The government had slackened its lockdown grip, and springtime had brought more parties. But the numbers were growing too quickly to easily explain, prompting a distressing question.

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WHO urges rich countries to stop jumping coronavirus vaccine queue

The World Health Organization on Friday urged rich countries to stop jumping the queue and making bilateral deals for the first wave of Covid-19 vaccines.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that right from the outset, wealthier nations had snapped up the majority of the supply of multiple vaccines -- potentially bumping up the price for everyone else battling the coronavirus pandemic.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet chief ministers of all states on Monday to discuss plans on the Covid-19 vaccine roll out and the pandemic situation across the country. The meeting will be held through a video-link on Monday evening.

In vaccine-sceptic France, some medics also hesitate

As the French government seeks to ramp up its lagging Covid-19 vaccination campaign, it faces a tricky challenge: convincing all doctors to back the jabs, even though some share the same hesitations as the general population.

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France national health authority approves Moderna's Covid vaccine

France's national health authority said Friday that it had approved the Covid-19 vaccine produced by Moderna for people 18 and older, clearing the way for a second option in the country's inoculation campaign.The move follows EU approval for the Moderna vaccine on Wednesday. (AFP)

DGCA issues guidelines to airlines for carrying Covid-19 vaccines packed in dry ice

Aviation regulator DGCA on Friday issued guidelines to all aircraft operators who plan to transport Covid-19 vaccines packed in dry ice to various parts of the country.

Dry ice transforms into carbon dioxide gas at temperatures higher than -78 degrees Celsius under normal atmospheric pressure and therefore it is classified as "dangerous goods" by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), it said. (PTI)

EU paves way for more Pfizer vaccine shots after extra dose allowed

Europe's medicines regulator gave the go ahead on Friday for an extra sixth dose to be extracted from the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine vials, lifting the number of available shots at a time when supplies are short.

EU countries started inoculating people with the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine two weeks ago after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended the shot's conditional approval under an authorisation which allows five doses to be extracted from each vial. (Reuters)