India Coronavirus Dispatch: Oxford vaccine may be a better fit for India

Delhi cemetary running out of space, 74 per cent Delhiites say they want markets shut, Covid immune response is enduring, may protect for decades-news on how the country is coping with the pandemic

Expert Speak: Oxford Vaccine May Better Fit India Than Pfizer’s or Moderna’s

Shedding light on the suitability of the various Covid-19 vaccine candidates under development, the noted vaccine scientist Gagandeep Kang said that the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, which a Pfizer press release claimed to be more than 90% effective, is “very unlikely to be a solution for India”. This is because India simply does not have the cold storage facilities required to store and transport this vaccine at -70 degrees Celsius to -80 degrees Celsius. The Pfizer vaccine also has a limited shelf life – at times as little as 24-48 hours. Read more here

As Covid toll rises, Delhi’s largest cemetery says has space to bury only 60 more bodies

With an increasing number of deaths due to Covid-19 in Delhi, the largest cemetery in the national capital is soon likely to have no space left for burials.

The Jadid Qabristan Ahle Islam cemetery, spread over 45 acres at ITO, has buried over 700 bodies of Covid victims so far. Mohammad Shameem, supervisor of the graveyard says they now have space to bury just 60 more bodies. Read more

74% of Delhi residents want a shutdown of markets, shops to contain Covid, survey finds

As much as 74 per cent of Delhi’s residents are keen to have some kind of shutdown of markets and non-essential shops in the national capital to contain the spread of Covid-19, a pan-India survey conducted by Local Circles, a community social media platform, has found.

The survey was conducted between 16 and 18 November and received 20,000 responses from 241 districts. Of these, 53 per cent of respondents were from tier 1 cities, 23 per cent from tier 2, and 24 per cent were from tier 3, 4, and rural districts. 34 per cent of Delhi residents voted for a full lockdown while 40 per cent supported a three-week shutdown of markets and non-essential shops and services. Read more here

Covid immune response is long-lasting, could protect people for even decades, study says

The human body’s immune response against SARS-CoV-2 lasts for up to eight months in people who have recovered from the Covid-19 infection, according to a new study that also hints that those who have been exposed to the virus or been vaccinated may be protected for decades. 

In the latest study, which is yet to be peer-reviewed, researchers from La Jolla Institute for Immunology in the US analysed the multiple types of immune cells in 185 Covid patients, including 41 cases who had recovered from the infection in over six months before the study. Read more here
 

Explained: The Guillain Barre Syndrome some Covid-19 patients develop

In a rare complication, some patients infected with Covid-19 have been found suffering from Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS). In India, such cases have been reported since August. A group of neurologists in Mumbai is now mapping these cases and their symptoms. So far, 24 cases have been added to the study. What is Guillain Barre Syndrome? How is it treated? Read more here