India Coronavirus Dispatch: WHO not in favour of mandatory vaccine passport

Hyderabad firm to produce vaccine shots with US funding, study finds horse antisera may be effective against Covid, and more-news relevant to India's fight against Covid-19

Why is WHO not in favour of making Covid vaccine passports mandatory?

WHO emergencies chief Dr Michael Ryan has said there are “real practical and ethical considerations” for countries considering the use of vaccine certification as a necessary condition for travel, The Quint said. Ryan said the UN health agency is against such a measure as of now. “Quite simply, vaccination is just not available enough around the world and is not available certainly on an equitable basis,” the Associated Press quoted Ryan as saying. Read more here 

India expected to review Covishield after reports of blood clots

India's drug regulators are expected to review data on Covaxin after reports that some recipients of the vaccine in Europe complained of unusual blood-related illnesses, a report in The Wire said. The vaccine was developed by researchers at UK's University of Oxford and US drugmaker AstraZeneca. Pune-based vaccine maker Serum Institute of India has a contract with Astra to manufacture the vaccine and a purchase agreement with India's central government. Last week, Denmark, Norway and Iceland paused rollouts of the vaccine after some recipients reported developing low blood platelet counts and blood clots. 

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‘Billions Under Lockdown’: New book reveals story of India's efforts to curb the virus

A new book titled ‘Billions Under Lockdown' offers readers the inside story on how India's state machinery was mobilised and put to work to fight the little-understood coronavirus, a report in ThePrint said. The book—authored by the news website's journalist Abantika Ghosh—tracks the spread of the pandemic in India with accounts from epidemiologists at the National Centre for Disease Control, bureaucrats, who became the face of the central government's efforts to fight Covid, and public health experts, the report said. Read more here

Hyderabad-based pharma company to produce Covid-19 vaccine shots with US funding

The U.S. International Development Finance Corp—which finances private development projects in lower- and middle-income countries—will help fund Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical firm Biological E's efforts to make at least one billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines by the end of the year, a report in Bloomberg said. This comes after the leaders of the so-called Quad group which includes the US, India, Japan and Australia, agreed to expand efforts to ramp up vaccine manufacturing in the region, including boosting India’s vaccine output, the report said. Read more here

Horse antisera may be effective against Covid, study finds

A new study by researchers at the University of Hyderabad has shown that antibodies derived from horses could be used as therapy against Covid-19, a report in The New Indian Express said. In other words, the method involves immunising a horse with inactivated novel coronavirus which triggers the production of antibodies in the animal. The study also indicates that the therapy might be effective against variants of the novel coronavirus. Read more here