India Covid Dispatch: One in six had antibodies before 2nd wave in K'taka

A protein-based vaccine that mimics shape of coronavirus, jabs at govt-run centres in Mumbai to resume on Saturday, and more-news relevant to India's fight against the pandemic

Over 40,000 fresh cases reported

India reported 40,120 fresh coronavirus infections on Friday, taking the cumulative caseload to 32.1 million, according to central health ministry data. The country saw 585 more deaths due to the pandemic, taking the death toll to 430,254. The active caseload is at 385,227, while the total recoveries have surged to 31.3 million. As many as 529 million vaccine shots have been administered since the nationwide inoculation programme kicked off on January 16. Of these, 5.7 million were given on Thursday. Read more

Karnataka: 1 in 6 people had antibodies before second wave hit, serosurvey shows

The second round of a statewide serosurvey carried out in Karnataka before the second wave hit found the seroprevalence to be at 15.6 per cent, a report in ThePrint said. This means that one in six people in the state had Covid antibodies. The study was conducted from 25 January to 18 February. The low seroprevalence was due to antibody waning, a longitudinal substudy confirmed. The survey found that the seroprevalence was highest in the 50-59 years age bracket (16.8 per cent) and lowest among those between the ages of 18 years and 29 years (10.8 per cent), the report said. Read more

58% Indians confident country well-equipped to handle third wave: survey

A new survey revealed that every three out of five Indians are confident that the country is well-equipped to handle a potential third wave of the pandemic this year, a report in ThePrint said. The survey, conducted by community platform LocalCircles, marked India entering the 75th year of its independence, and questioned respondents on their thoughts about the direction the country will take in the next year. “Feedback from citizens has been sought on various national issues,” LocalCircles said. Over 75,000 people were polled in the survey, the report said. Read more

A protein-based vaccine that mimics shape of coronavirus

Researchers have immunised mice with nanoparticles that mimic the novel coronavirus by displaying multiple copies of the receptor binding domain (RBD) antigen, a report in The Indian Express said. The findings on their protein-based vaccine have been published in ACS Central Science. The scientists made nanoparticles similar in size to SARS-CoV-2 and decorated them with many RBDs. They injected them into mice, along with separate nanoparticles containing an adjuvant, in two doses three weeks apart, the report said. Read more

Vaccination at govt-run centres in Mumbai to resume on Saturday

Vaccination is likely to resume at over 300 government-run centres on Saturday after a gap of two days, a report in The Indian Express said. However, the centres are closed on Sundays. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) was set to receive 159,000 doses on Thursday night—the stock is now expected on Friday. The vaccination drive was suspended for Thursday and Friday due to a shortage in supply. The BMC had previously received 45,000 doses last Saturday, which were exhausted by Monday. Due to shortages, the government-run centres have been shut for six days this month, the report said. Read more