Coronavirus vaccine news highlights: Not fair to compare prices of the two Indian vaccines, says Bharat Biotech's Suchitra Ella

The vaccination will be done at 81 locations in Delhi on January 16. Around 3 lakh healthcare workers will be inoculated at 2,934 sites across the country on the first day of the massive nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive which is set to begin from January 16. The Centre expects to receive all 1.65 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccine it had ordered from two manufacturers by Thursday, well in time to start the massive vaccination drive.

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Some vaccinated Russians offered laxer Covid-19 curbs, life without masks

Some Russian regions are proposing to relax Covid-19 restrictions such as mandatory mask-wearing and other incentives for Russians who receive the homegrown vaccine.

Russia, which has the world's fourth highest number of Covid-19 cases, began large-scale inoculations with its Sputnik V vaccine last month and President Vladimir Putin has said the programme should be made available to all Russians next week.

On Thursday, the governor of the far eastern Sakhalin region proposed distributing badges to people who have had the vaccine allowing them to no longer wear face masks. (Reuters)

Not fair to compare prices of two Indian vaccines: Bharat Biotech's Suchitra Ella

Bharat Biotech's Suchitra Ella has said in an interview with CNBC-TV18 that it is not fair to compare prices of two Indian vaccine makers. Compared to international vaccines, these are much more affordable.

She added that the company will have clarity on 'clinical trial mode' by tomorrow. Ella also said bringing up the issue of Union Carbide victims is not fair asallowance has been approved by Ethical Committee of every hospital and the DCGI.

German vaccine institute praises efficacy of Astra-Oxford vaccine

The head of Germany's vaccine regulator on Thursday described the success rate of AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine as excellentafter some Australian scientists voiced scepticism about the compound's efficacy. (Reuters)

2 hospitals prepare for PM interaction with vaccinated staff

Coimbatore Medical College Hospital and Government Headquarters Hospital, Pollachi, are getting ready for the proposed interaction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with healthcare workers during the rollout of the nationwide Covid-19 vaccination scheduled on January 16.

Web cameras have been installed in the hospitals, two of the 10 vaccination centres in the district for smooth live session and the interaction, health department sources said on Thursday. (PTI)

Nagpur division receives 1.14 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccine

Maharashtra's Nagpur division received its first consignment of 1.14 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine in the early hours of Thursday, an official said.

The vaccines will be administered in 34 centres in Nagpur division, which includes Bhandara, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Gondia, Nagpur and Wardha districts, the official said. (PTI)

Efficacy results for Russia's Sputnik V vaccine to be released soon

Russia will soon release peer-reviewed results of its Sputnik V vaccine and the government is positive it will show high efficiency. Russia's Dmitriev has said that nine countries will register for the vaccine in January. (Reuters)

Airlines face more turbulence before vaccine relief

For a year expected to mark a turning point for pandemic-stricken European airlines, 2021 is off to a rough start.

A resurgence of Covid-19 lockdowns has killed off a fragile bookings upturn, executives and analysts said, just as airlines were hoping the promise of vaccines would put the worst of the crisis behind them and set the stage for a summer rebound. (Reuters)

Serum Institute expects WHO emergency approval for AstraZeneca shot soon

The Serum Institute of India expects WHO emergency-use authorization soon for the Oxford University/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine, which it is producing for mid and low-income countries, its chief executive said.

"The emergency use licensure from the WHO (World Health Organization) should be available and coming through in the next week or two, hopefully, because we have submitted everything," Adar Poonawalla told the Reuters Next conference on Thursday. (Reuters)

Covid vaccine reaches all 24 districts of Jharkhand

Around 1.62 lakh COVID-19 vaccine has reached all the 24 districts of Jharkhand for the scheduled first phase of the vaccination drive on January 16, a top Health department official said on Thursday.

In the first phase of the vaccination drive, the vaccines will be administered to state healthcare workers in 129 vaccination centres, the official said.

Principal Secretary, Health, Dr Nitin Madan Kulkarni told PTI that 1.62 lakh doses of Covishield vaccine sent from the state Health department warehouse at Namkum have reached all the 24 districts this morning.

He said the Union Health Ministry has allowed 129 vaccination centers for Jharkhand in the first phase of the vaccination drive.

(PTI)

WHO to convene emergency committee early over new coronavirus variants

The World Health Organization's emergency committee will meet two weeks early on Thursday to discuss the new coronavirus variants from South Africa and Britain that have rapidly spread to at least 50 countries and sparked widespread alarm.

The newly identified variants, which appear to be significantly more infectious than the strain that emerged in China in 2019, come as spiking virus numbers force many nations to enforce new lockdowns.

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PM Modi to launch Covid-19 vaccination drive on January 16

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the rollout of India's Covid-19 vaccination programme on January 16, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday. He is likely to interact via video link with some healthcare workers from across the country who will be receiving the shots on the first day, according to sources.

Modi is also likely to launch the Co-WIN (COVID Vaccine Intelligence Network) App, a digital platform created for real-time monitoring of Covid-19 vaccine delivery and distribution, they said. (PTI)

So far, we have received 2,74,000 doses of vaccine from the Centre. Each person will be administered two doses. The Centre provides 10 per centextra vaccine, taking damage into account. So the 2,74,000 doses will be sufficient for around 1,20,000 health workers, saysKejriwal.

The vaccination will be done at 81 locations in Delhi on January 16. Around 100 people will be vaccinated at each of these locations in a day. Vaccination will be done on four days a week - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday, saysDelhi CM Arvind Kejriwal. He adds that the number of centres will beincreased to 175 in a few days andthen to 1,000 centres across Delhi.

24,500 Covishield vaccine doses arrives in Mangaluru

Ahead of the massive Covid-19 vaccination drive, 24,500 Covishield vaccine doses arriveat Ayush hospital on Thursday. District Health Officer (DHO) Dr Ramachandra Bairy told DH that these vaccine doses will be shifted to 89 centres, set up under government sector, across the district.

The process of administering vaccine for 52,381 personnel from the health sector, registered with the department, is likely to begin soon.

"As the firm assured that the supply chain will not be disrupted, the department will cover the targeted population in a phased manner. With the steady supply of vaccine, 447 centres in the private sector will also receive the vaccine," DHO added.

Bengaluru gets 20,000 doses of Covaxin for health workers

One thousand vials of Covaxin, the Covid-19 vaccine developed by Indian pharmaceutical company Bharat Biotech, arrived at the state vaccine store at Anand Rao Circle here on Wednesday. Each vial contains 20 doses.

SpiceJet’s freighter flight SG 7555 took off from Hyderabad at 8.50 am, carrying three boxes weighing 90 kg of Covaxin, and landed in Bengaluru at 10.23 am.

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About 3 lakh healthcare workers to get vaccine shots on first day of Covid-19 inoculation drive

Around 3 lakh healthcare workers will be inoculated at 2,934 sites across the country on the first day of the massive nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive which is set to begin from January 16, official sources said.

Each vaccination session will cater to a maximum of 100 beneficiaries and the Union Health Ministry has advised states not to organise "unreasonable numbers of vaccination per site per day".

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Five hurdles in the global Covid-19 vaccine rollout

The unprecedented push to inoculate the world's population against Covid-19 has got off to a sluggish start, triggering a storm of criticism.

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India wants Pfizer to do local study for approval

Any vaccine maker, including Pfizer Inc, which has sought emergency-use authorisation for its Covid-19 shot in India, must conduct a local "bridging" safety and immunogenicity study to be considered for the country's immunisation programme, a senior government official told Reuters.

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This is an initial lot of supply of vaccine doses and would be continuously replenished in the weeks to come. Therefore, any apprehension being expressed on account of deficient supply is totally baseless and unfounded: Ministry of Health

Good morning readers, the Centre expects to receive all 1.65 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccine it had ordered from two manufacturers by Thursday, well in time to start the massive vaccination drive on Saturday, Jan 16. The Centre has ordered 1.1 crore doses of Covishield from the Serum Institute and 55 lakh doses of Covaxin developed by homegrown vaccine maker Bharat Biotech. Stay tuned for live updates.