Coronavirus vaccine news highlights: 3.81 lakh vaccinated against Covid-19 in India

After kickstarting its Covid-19 vaccination on Saturday, India has inoculated 2,24,301 beneficiaries so far, out of which only 447 cases reported adverse events following immunisation (AEFI). India has approved two vaccines — Covaxin developed by Bharat Biotech and Covishield from the Oxford/AstraZeneca stable being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India — for emergency use in the country. Frontline workers and healthcare workers are being vaccinated in the first phase. Stay tuned for updates.

3,81,305 beneficiaries received COVID vaccine, 580 adverse events reported: Health ministry

A total of 3,81,305 beneficiaries have so far been vaccinated for COVID-19 and 580 adverse events following immunisation were reported in the country till now, the Union health ministry said on Monday.

Addressing a press briefing, Manohar Agnani, Additional Secretary in the ministry of health, said 1,48,266 beneficiaries were vaccinated across 25 states and union territories till 5 pm on Monday.

"A total of 3,81,305 beneficiaries have so far been vaccinated (till 5 pm on Monday) till today through 7,704 sessions, as per the provisional reports," the ministry said.

Vaccination in Delhi: Further dip in turnout, only 8 get jabs at AIIMS

Nearly 3,600 healthcare workers received the Covid-19 vaccine shots in Delhi on Monday, a further dip in the figures compared to that on opening day of the immunisation drive, with sources saying just eight medical staff got the jabs at AIIMS.

Under the nationwide mega vaccination drive launched on Saturday, a total of 4,319 (53 per cent) health workers against a target of 8,117 were administered the vaccines at 81 centres across the city.

The sharp fall comes after one severe and 50 minor cases were reported, following the vaccination drive on Saturday.

3598 persons have been administered Covid-19 vaccine in Delhi today. Of this, 26 had 'adverse event following immunisation.

Reviewing situation before resuming vaccination: Maharashtra health minister Rajesh Tope

The Maharashtra government will "review the situation" before restarting the vaccination drive from Tuesday in view of several complaints of minor adverse reactions as well as glitches in using the Co-WIN application, state Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Monday.

The Maharashtra government on Saturday evening announced suspension of the Covid-19 vaccination drive in the state till Monday owing to problems in the software application.

Tope said the state government was waiting for the Centre's response on its request to use the offline method due to the problems being encountered with Co-WIN.

Death of 52-year-old vaccine beneficiary unrelated to Covid-19 vaccination, says Union health ministry

3.81 lakh vaccinated against Covid-19 in India as of January 18.

On January 18, the total number of beneficiaries vaccinated across the country is at 1,48,266 by 5pm.

One person died after receiving Covid-19 vaccine at Bellary, post mortem being carried out at Vijayanagar Institute of Medical Sciences in Karnataka: Union Health Ministry.

Vaccination drive total success in Gujarat, says CM Rupani

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Monday called the Covid-19 vaccination drive a success and said no serious adverse reaction case had emerged from anywhere in the state.

Some 12,000 people in priority groups were vaccinated in Gujarat in January 16, the first day of a nationwide inoculation drive.

Though some vaccine beneficiaries in Rajkot complained of adverse effects, Rupani said. "Vaccination usually triggers some kind of reaction in the body. However, no serious case has emerged in Gujarat so far. There is absolutely no reason to worry and beneficiaries are being monitored by officials. Vaccination was a total success in Gujarat."

India, China set to lead vaccine distribution in APAC region: Moody's Analytics

Moody's Analytics on Monday said India, along with China, would take lead in the Covid-19 vaccine distribution in the Asia-Pacific region.

India launched its vaccination programme on January 16 after the drug regulatorDCGIearlier this month approved Oxford Covid-19 vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, and Bharat Biotech's indigenously developed Covaxin, for restricted emergency use in the country.

Brazil to begin Covid-19 vaccination campaign today

All Brazil's available vaccine doses will be distributed to the country's states on Monday, health minister Eduardo Pazuello said, with vaccinations able to start from 5 pm.

The states had asked the government to bring forward the rollout of the only vaccine available - the CoronaVac shot made by China's Sinovac Biotech and imported by the Butantan biomedical center in Sao Paulo.

Sixty-nine healthcare workers have been vaccinated at RML hospital in Delhi today, says hospital spokesperson

Delhi govt directs officials not to rope in teachers for field work other than Covid-19 duty

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday directed that teachers of Delhi government schools be not roped in for any administrative duty as schools for classes 10 and 12 reopened.

"Teachers of Delhi government have been at the forefront of COVID-related duties ever since the first lockdown in March, 2020. They have rendered their services whenever the District Administration asked them to do so.

Global gaps in Covid-19 vaccine access cause concern

Global gaps in access to Covid-19 vaccines are raising concerns that the continued spread of the coronavirus will breed more dangerous versions of the pathogen, weakening medical weapons and further crippling economies.

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Vaccine nationalism puts world on brink of 'catastrophic moral failure' says WHO chief

The head of the World Health Organization said on Monday that the world was on the brink of a "catastrophic moral failure" on distributing Covid-19 vaccines, urging countries and manufacturers to share doses more fairly around the world.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the prospects for equitable distribution are at "serious risk" just as its vaccine-sharing scheme COVAX aims to start distributing inoculations next month.

Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers rush to seek liability cover: Report

Insurance companies also have sought reinsurance support for providing insurance cover to vaccine manufacturers for the Covid-19 vaccine from India's largest reinsurer General Insurance Corporation (GIC Re).

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UK’s vaccination programme expands to cover those over 70

Millions of people in the UK aged 70 and over and those clinically extremely vulnerable to COVID-19 will be invited to get their vaccinations as the National Health Service (NHS) expands the rollout of the vaccines to the next priority groups from Monday.

The NHS has so far been working to vaccinate the first two priority cohorts recommended by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which are care home residents and staff, and those aged 80 and over and frontline health and care staff.

Telangana yet to use Covaxin; inoculation underway in 324 sites

The Covid-19 vaccination programme was underway on the second day in Telangana with the government making arrangements in total 324 centres for the inoculation, a senior official of the State government said on Monday.

The official said that Serum Institute's Covishield will be administered on the second day also as Bharat Biotech's Covaxin is yet to be dispatched to the centres.

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Health worker dies in Moradabad day after receiving Covid vaccine

A 46-year-old health worker died a day after receiving the coronavirus vaccination, officials said on Monday.

While Mahipal's family is blaming the death on vaccination, the authorities cited an autopsy report to say that he suffered from a cardiac disease.

Mahipal, working as ward boy in the surgical ward of the state-run Deendayal Upadhya hospital in Moradabad, died on Sunday night.

Uzbekistan to buy 100,000 Pfizer Covid vaccine doses

Uzbekistan plans to purchase 100,000 doses of Pfizer and BioNTech's Covid-19 vaccine, the Central Asian nation's health ministry said on Monday.

The country of 34 million is working on the deal together with vaccine alliance Gavi, the ministry said in a statement. (Reuters)

Images from Covid-19 vaccination in Odisha

Steel companies engage with vaccine makers for bulk supply of doses for employees

Leading steel-producing companies in the country are drawing up plans to vaccinate their employees across offices and plant sites with the start of the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive.

Domestic steel makers like — Tata Steel, ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India (AMNS India) and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd (RINL) said they will continue to support the government in the nationwide drive and will wait till vaccines are available for corporates. (PTI)

Israel trades Pfizer doses for medical data in vaccine blitz

After sprinting ahead in the race to inoculate its population against the coronavirus, Israel has struck a deal with Pfizer, promising to share vast troves of medical data with the international drug giant in exchange for the continued flow of its hard-to-get vaccine.

Proponents say the deal could allow Israel to become the first country to vaccinate most of its population, while providing valuable research that could help the rest of the world. But critics say the deal raises major ethical concerns, including possible privacy violations and a deepening of the global divide that enables wealthy countries to stockpile vaccines as poorer populations. (Reuters)

Covid vaccination continues in Bengal, CoWIN glitches reported

The Covid-19 vaccination drive resumed on Monday at 207 sites across West Bengal with beneficiaries, mostly frontline workers, reaching there as scheduled to receive the doses, a senior official of the Health Department said.

Glitches in the CoWIN portal were reported from several sites, following which health officials chose to manually complete the process of documentation and allocation, he added. (PTI)

Telangana yet to use Covaxin; inoculation underway in 324 sites

The Covid-19 vaccination programme was underway on the second day in Telangana with the government making arrangements in total 324 centres for the inoculation, a senior official of the State government said on Monday.

The official said on the second day also Serum Institute's Covishield will be administered as Bharat Biotech's Covaxin is yet to be dispatched to the centres.

Telangana received 20,000 doses of the Covaxine as against 3.64 lakh of Covishied. (PTI)

Covid vaccination drive gets underway in Delhi on day two

After administering shots to over 4,300 healthcare workers on the opening day, Covid-19 vaccination teams across the national capital started to give vaccines to more medical staff at various hospitals on Monday.

Officials said that the vaccination drive started at the Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital at 10 am.

The immunisation drive in Delhi was formally kicked off on Saturday by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal from the LNJP Hospital, the state-run facility which offered yeoman service during the pandemic last year. (PTI)

'Light at end of tunnel': Many elderly doctors take Covid-19 vaccine in Bengaluru

For senior citizens involved in the healthcare industry, the deployment of the vaccine was described as being akin to the light at the end of a long, angst-filled tunnel.

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One year, 400,000 Coronavirus deaths: How the US guaranteed its own failure

For nearly the entire pandemic, political polarization and a rejection of science have stymied the United States’ ability to control the coronavirus. That has been clearest and most damaging at the federal level, where Trump claimed that the virus would “disappear,” clashed with his top scientists and, in a pivotal failure, abdicated responsibility for a pandemic that required a national effort to defeat it, handing key decisions over to states under the assumption that they would take on the fight and get the country back to business.

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After Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope statedthat the Covid-19 vaccination drive was canceled in the state till Monday, the MVA government clarified that the exercise was not planned for Sunday and Monday, and "thus there was no question of a cancellation".

Glitches in the Co-WIN app have been reported from many sites on the first two days of the vaccination drive. (News18)

India to ship Covid-19 vaccines to neighbouring countries soon

As part of vaccine diplomacy, India plans to send doses of vaccines to its neighbours, according to a report by The Times of India.

Nepal, Bhutan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Mauritius are among the first destinations.

Global vaccine campaign gains pace with Brazil approvals

The global Covid-19 vaccination drive gained pace Sunday as Brazil gave its first injections and India pushed on with its massive campaign, while European authorities sought to allay concerns about delays in supplies.

Brazil's health regulator gave the green light for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and China's CoronaVac to be used as the Latin American giant suffers a devastating second wave of the coronavirus. (AFP)

Delhi govt to raise awareness regarding vaccine to improve turnout

Delhi government will take measures like counselling and formal phone calls in the coming days to raise a percentage of healthcare workers turning up for being administered Covid-19 vaccines.

In Delhi, 4,319 healthcare workers – 53.3 per cent of those registered – got the shots on Saturday. This was blamed on snags in the Co-WIN app and people's 'Wait and watch' approach. (PTI)

'Make Covid-19 vaccine trial data public'

Progressive Medicos and Scientists Forum has said that all data pertaining to Covid-19 vaccine trials should be made public to enable scientists and healthcare workers to make informed choices regarding administration of vaccination. (PTI)

India's Covid-19 vaccination drive hit by glitches, people's hesitancy

India’s Covid-19 vaccination hasn't got off to a smooth start, with the numbers after two days remaining low due to a combination of factors ranging from technical glitches in the Co-WIN software to a certain degree of vaccine hesitancy among recipeints.

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Europe vaccine rollout shifts up a gear as supply worries linger

France and Russia prepared to beef up their coronavirus inoculation programmes from next week, even as authorities on Sunday sought to allay concerns about supplies of the vaccines while the global pandemic shows no sign of being brought under control.

With infections surging past 94 million and more than two million deaths — and Europe among the hardest-hit regions — France and Russia were hoping to shift their vaccination programmes into a higher gear from Monday. (AFP)

Brazil approves Sinovac, AstraZeneca

Brazilian Health Regulator Anvisa approved emergency use of Covid-19 vaccines from China’s Sinovac Biotech and Britain’s AstraZeneca, Reuters reported.