In your evening news brief, From The Newsroom, Vaccines of Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech approved; Prime Minister Narendra Modi hails DGCI decision; Congress leaders question the move to approve the vaccine; D V Sadananda Gowda collapsed due to low blood pressure and British Prime Minister Boris comments on the possibility of a fresh vote on Scottish independence.
It’s good news finally and the stage is set for the inoculation of 30 crore Indians over the next few months starting with doctors, nurses and front-line workers as an expert committee today has approved for restricted use in emergency situations, the vaccines by Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech.
The task won’t be that simple as both vaccines are to be administered in two doses at a gap of 28 days.
But making it easy for widespread use in India is that both can be stored at temperatures between 2 to 8 degrees Celsius.
The vaccines’ approval was welcomed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who described the decision a “decisive turning point” in the fight against the pandemic and that this has accelerated the road to a healthier and Covid-free nation.
But the other side of the political spectrum has different views.
Some Congress leaders like Anand Sharma, Jairam Ramesh and Shashi Tharoor have raised some serious concern over the grant of approval to Bharat Biotech's vaccine for restricted use. They asked the health minister to explain why mandatory protocols and verification of data "had been dispensed with" and said that the approval was "premature" and can prove to be dangerous.
Talking about health. Union Minister DV Sadananda Gowda was rushed to a hospital after collapsing due to low blood pressure at Chitradurga, while returning from the BJP meeting held in Shivamogga.
He is currently stable and was shifted to a private hospital in Bengaluru for further checkups and treatment.
When the BBC asked British Prime Minister Boris Johnson about the possibility of a fresh vote on Scottish independence, the UK PM said that referendums should only happen once in a generation.
He further said that in his experience, referendums are not particularly jolly events.