India Coronavirus Dispatch: Drugs remdesivir, favipiravir see record sales

Covaxin's immune response can last at least 3 months finds Lancet study, how a vaccine passport could soon become essential, and more-news relevant to India's fight against Covid-19

Over 10,000 firms shut shop due to Covid

The government has informed the Parliament that over 10,000 firms in India shut down voluntarily between April 2020 and February this year due to the economic disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, a report in the Scroll said. The nationwide lockdown imposed to curb the spread of the virus dealt a blow to the economy. In a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Thakur said that a total of 10,113 companies were struck off under Section 248(2) of the Companies Act, 2013, in the current financial year till February. Read more here

Remdesivir, favipiravir see record sales in Covid year

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, India saw a four-fold jump in launches of antiviral medicines in 2020 compared to the prior year even as fewer new formulations were launched, a report in ThePrint said. The Indian pharma industry launched 44 new antiviral brands last year, compared to just 10 launches in the prior year, according to the data by research firm IQVIA. The top two anti-viral medicines were favipiravir and remdesivir which recorded stellar sales of over Rs 1,000 crore in seven months of their launch last year, the report said. Read more here

Covaxin's immune response can last at least 3 months: Lancet study 

Immune responses triggered by Bharat Biotech's Covid-19 shot Covaxin lasts for at least up to three months, a report in ThePrint said citing a new study published in the medical journal Lancet Infectious Diseases. The study showed that the 28-day interval between doses of Covaxin in a two-dose regimen showed more promise in fighting the virus than the 14-day interval. The study was carried out by researchers at the country's apex body for biomedical research Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Bharat Biotech. Read more here

EXPLAINER: What is a vaccine passport?

As vaccination programmes around the world inoculate people, documenting the shots is becoming an important step in making cross-border travel smoother. People may soon be required to produce paperwork to declare their inoculation status at airports, workplaces and public places. For these purposes, a 'vaccine passport' may soon become an essential document. Some passports in the works include International Chamber of Commerce's AOKPass and IBM's Digital Health Pass. Here's a video from The Hindu that explains what a vaccine passport is and how it could soon become essential to resume international travel and return to offices for work. Read more here

IN NUMBERS: Nearly 18,000 fresh cases reported

India reported 17,921 fresh coronavirus infections on Wednesday, taking the cumulative caseload to 11,262,707, according to a report in the Scroll. The country saw 133 deaths due to the pandemic, taking the death toll to 158,063, according to central health ministry data. The active caseload dropped to 184,598, while the total recoveries have surged to 10,920,046. As many as 24,367,906 vaccine doses have been administered so far since the nationwide inoculation programme kicked off on January 16. Of these, 1,359,173 were given on Tuesday. Read more here