India Coronavirus Dispatch: Vaccine nationalism keeps poor nations waiting

Google searches for WFH jobs, e-courses surge, study says vaccine hesitancy risks increasing coronavirus mortality by nine times, and more-news relevant to India's fight against Covid-19

Vaccine nationalism keeps poor countries waiting

 

Increasing vaccine nationalism in countries that are major producers of inoculants such as India is hurting the world's poorest nations as their wait for millions of doses promised through Covax—a World Health Organization-backed inoculation initiative—gets longer, according to a report in Bloomberg. India has temporarily halted taking new orders for vaccine exports to keep up with domestic demand as the country is opening up its vaccination programme to anyone over the age of 45 years. The world's biggest vaccine maker, Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) is a key supplier to Covax, a programme that is expected to supply 2 billion doses of vaccines to middle and low-income countries. Read more here 

 

IN NUMBERS: Over 62,000 fresh cases reported; biggest jump in five months

 

India reported 62,258 fresh coronavirus infections on Saturday, taking the cumulative caseload to 1,19,08,910, according to a report in the Scroll. This is the biggest one-day jump in five months. The country saw 291 deaths due to the pandemic, taking the death toll to 1,61,240, according to central health ministry data. The active caseload is at 4,52,647, while the total recoveries have surged to 1,12,95,023. As many as 5,81,09,773 people have been inoculated since the nationwide inoculation programme kicked off on January 16. Of these, 26,05,333 people received their shots on Friday. Read more here 

 

Google searches for WFH jobs, e-courses surge in Covid year

 

As Covid-19 upended lives and ravaged the economy, internet search queries such as “work from home jobs”, “online course”, “how to sell online” and “certificate course” were among those that recorded the most growth in India in 2020, according to Google’s annual ‘Year in Search’ report, The Indian Express reported. While the search term “work from home jobs” saw a 140 per cent growth from 2019, the query “online course” saw 85 per cent growth. Searches for “certificate course” saw 50 per cent growth and “how to sell online” saw over 65 per cent rise in searches, the report said. Read more here 

 

Vaccine hesitancy risks increasing Covid mortality by nine times

 

A new study has estimated that countries with significant vaccine hesitancy—either by refusing to get the shots or delaying them—could face fatality rates that are as much as nine times higher than in other countries, a report in Bloomberg said. Researchers at Imperial College London said vaccine scepticism over the next two years could mean high fatality rates could persist beyond the current, more acute phase of the pandemic and threatens to hamper the successful rollout of vaccines around the world, the report said. Read more here

 

Holi amid coronavirus: What are the restrictions? 

 

Many state governments have imposed fresh curbs to contain the resurgence in coronavirus infections in light of Holi and other upcoming festivals, a report in The Quint said. The public has been asked to ‘maintain special vigilance and show due diligence.’ In Uttar Pradesh, no event or procession can be held without permission from administrative authorities. In Mumbai, the city's governing civic body has placed a blanket ban on public functions. Read more here