India Coronavirus Dispatch: Gurugram biotech firm develops oral vaccine

The rise of e-commerce usage amid the pandemic, why post-vaccination serosurveys are important, and more-news relevant to India's fight against Covid-19

Science ministry funds trial to study the effect of Gayatri Mantra in treating Covid

The Department of Science and Technology—a division within the Ministry of Science and Technology—has funded a clinical trial at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Rishikesh, to determine if the quality of recovery from Covid-19 can be improved by chanting the Gayatri Mantra, a religious hymn, and by performing the Yoga practice of Pranayama, a report in The Hindu said. The trial aims to recruit 20 Covid-19 patients with "moderate symptoms". Read more here 

India’s Premas Biotech, Israel’s Oramed develop an oral vaccine 

A collaboration between Gurugram-based biotechnology firm Premas Biotech and Israel's Oramed Pharmaceuticals has reportedly developed an oral vaccine that can be swallowed like a pill instead of an injection which is the current norm, a report in The Hindu said. The two firms have had a long-standing partnership in developing new drug delivery techniques. A preliminary test that was carried out in animals demonstrated that the vaccine produced the expected antibodies that provide protection. However, the findings have not been reported in a scientific publication yet and cannot be independently verified, the report said. The product is still months away from being ready for human trials. Read more here 

Ecommerce usage amid the pandemic

As many as 49 per cent of Indians polled in a survey by LocalCircles, a community social media platform, said they preferred e-commerce websites and mobile apps for shopping in the last 12 months, a report in ThePrint said. The survey received over 1,30,000 responses from over 42,000 unique consumers across 358 districts. The survey also said 18 per cent of respondents called local retail stores and got home delivery, 31 per cent visited malls, local retailers and markets to shop. Read more here

OPINION: Why post-vaccination serosurveys are important

India needs to carry out post-inoculation serosurveys of individuals in order to track the long-term efficacy of the vaccines, an opinion piece in The Indian Express said. The writer is Anu Raghunathan, a senior principal scientist at Pune's CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory. Such studies are important due to the country's huge genetic and nutritional diversity. Raghunathan said the serosurveys can provide valuable inputs for planning further phases of the vaccination programme and will also help towards confidence-building measures for the rollout. Read more here

OPINION: Prioritise vaccination of worst-affected districts

Immunisation must be prioritised in the districts where Covid transmission is the highest, an opinion piece in The Indian Express said. For instance, the Japanese Encephalitis (JE) vaccine is administered in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar where the risk of transmission is high, but not in the rest of the country. The same principle has to be applied to the Covid-19 pandemic, the opinion piece said. The writer is Dileep Mavalankar, director of the Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar. Read more here