Page 11 - Coronavirus Vaccine

Underdeveloped nations fighting drugmakers over access to TB, HIV drugs

South Africa, Colombia and other countries that lost out in the global race for coronavirus vaccines are taking a more combative approach towards drugmakers and pushing back on policies that deny cheap treatment to millions of people with tuberculosis and HIV. Experts see it as a shift in how such countries deal with pharmaceutical behemoths and say it could trigger more efforts to make lifesaving medicines more widely available. In the COVID-19 pandemic, rich countries bought most of the world's vaccines early, leaving few shots for poor countries and creating a disparity the World Health Organization called a catastrophic moral failure. Now, poorer countries are trying to become more self-reliant because they've realized after COVID they can't count on anyone else, said Brook Baker, who studies treatment-access issues at Northeastern University. One of the targets is a drug, bedaquiline, that is used for treating people with drug-resistant versions of tuberculosis. The pills are

Novavax plans to slash costs by another $300 mn amid sagging demand

Novavax shares rose 3.1% at 10:26 a.m. in New York after the company's third-quarter loss per share and revenue were better than analysts expected

Oxford-AstraZeneca covid vaccine faces legal challenge in UK: Report

The Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, known as Vaxzevria in Europe and licensed as Covishield in India, is facing a legal challenge in the High Court in London, a UK media report said on Thursday. According to The Daily Telegraph', UK-based pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca could face a number of further claims based on the outcome of test cases around the condition identified by specialists as Vaccine Induced Immune Thrombocytopenia and Thrombosis (VITT), believed to be related to the side effects of the COVID jab. AstraZeneca has stressed that patient safety is its "highest priority" and pointed out that regulators around the world consistently state that the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of extremely rare potential side effects". "The fact of this legal battle poses a fundamental question: in circumstances where individuals are seriously injured or die because of a vaccination recommended by the government should the state provide access to adequate compensation,

Moderna tempers 2023 Covid vaccine sales forecast on weaker demand

Analysts estimate over $100 million in sales for each of Moderna's new vaccines against RSV and flu, which also has yet to be approved, in 2024, according to LSEG data

Covid vaccination didn't increase risk of deaths among young adults: Study

COVID-19 vaccination did not increase the risk of sudden deaths among young adults in India, according to a study conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Factors that did increase such chances included being in the hospital for Covid in the past and certain behaviours like binge drinking and intense physical activity shortly before death, the study said. The study, titled "Factors associated with sudden deaths among adults aged 18-45 years in India -- a multicentric matched case-control study", is under peer review and yet to be published. It was completed earlier this month, official sources said on Monday. Citing the ICMR study, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said at Gujarat's Bhavnagar on Sunday that those who had earlier suffered a severe bout of Covid must not overexert themselves for a year or two to avoid heart attacks and cardiac arrests. Anecdotal reports of sudden deaths among healthy young adults in India led the researchers to conduct the ..

EU regulators delay approval of Novavax's revised Covid-19 vaccine

Novavax said it was working closely with the EMA and is looking forward to the recommendations from the regulator

Why UPenn demoted Katalin Kariko for research that won her the Nobel Prize

University of Pennsylvania has received backlash for celebrating the scientist's success without acknowledging the struggles Kariko faced during her time at the institute

Covid antiviral drug molnupiravir linked to virus mutations: Research

A widely used COVID-19 antiviral drug, molnupiravir, has been linked with a pattern of mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 virus, according to a study published in the journal Nature. A team, including researchers from the Francis Crick Institute and the University of Cambridge in the UK, noted that molnupiravir works by inducing mutations in the virus's genetic information, or genome, during replication. Many of these mutations will damage or kill the virus, reducing viral load in the body. It was one of the first antivirals available on the market during the COVID-19 pandemic and was widely adopted by many countries. The scientists used global sequencing databases to map mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 virus over time. They analysed a family tree of 15 million SARS-CoV-2 sequences so that at each point in each virus's evolutionary history they could see which mutations had occurred. Although viruses mutate all the time, the researchers identified mutational events in the global sequencing ..

Key for Global south to be active participants in shaping decisions: Kamboj

Kamboj recalled that India during the Covid-19 pandemic extended a helping hand by providing made-in-India vaccines to nearly 100 countries and supplying medicines to 150 nations

Qure.ai, PATH India partner to provide TB, Covid screening in Maharashtra

qXR uses deep learning to analyse chest X-rays and identify potential abnormalities. This can help to improve the accuracy and speed of TB and COVID-19 diagnosis

Updated Covid-19 shots are coming soon, to be part of trio of vaccines

Updated COVID-19 vaccines are coming soon, just in time to pair them with flu shots. And this fall, the first vaccines for another scary virus called RSV are rolling out to older adults and pregnant women. Doctors hope enough people get vaccinated to help avert another tripledemic like last year when hospitals were overwhelmed with an early flu season, an onslaught of RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, and yet another winter coronavirus surge. COVID-19 hospitalizations have been steadily increasing since late summer, although not nearly as much as this time last year, and RSV already is on the rise in parts of the Southeast. Approval of updated COVID-19 shots is expected within days. They are among the tools the new director of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention says will help put the US in our strongest position yet to avoid another chaotic respiratory season. There will be a lot of virus this winter. That's why we want to get ahead of it, CDC chief Dr. Mandy Cohen .

No link between Covid vaccines used in India and heart attack risk: Study

There is no association between the Covid-19 vaccines used in India -- Covishield and Covaxin -- and increase in the risk of heart attacks, according to an observational study which emphasises the protective effect of the jabs. The research, published recently in the journal PLOS One, determined the impact of COVID-19 vaccination on mortality following acute myocardial infarction (AMI) or heart attack. The retrospective study used data from 1,578 people admitted to G B Pant hospital in Delhi between August 2021 and August 2022. As many as 1,086 (68.8 per cent) were vaccinated against COVID-19 while 492 (31.2 per cent) were unvaccinated. Among the vaccinated group, 1,047 (96 per cent) had received two doses of the vaccine while 39 (4 per cent) had received only a single dose. "Our study found that vaccines used in India are safe. There was no association of vaccination in India with heart attack. In fact, the study found that there were less chances of death after heart attack in ..

Top headlines: India's economy 16.5 yrs behind China, Inflation a key issue

Business Standard brings you the top headlines at this hour

India records 61 fresh Covid cases, total cases at 1,522: Health Ministry

India saw a single-day rise of 61 new coronavirus infections while the active cases were recorded at 1,522, according to Union health ministry data updated on Wednesday. The death toll was recorded at 5,31,929, the data updated at 8 am showed. The country's Covid case tally is 4.49 crore (4,49,97,117). The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has increased to 4,44,63,666, and the national recovery rate stands at 98.81 per cent, according to the health ministry's website. The case fatality rate stands at 1.18 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 220.67 crore doses of Covid vaccines have been administered in the country so far.

Joe Biden says he will request more funding for a new coronavirus vaccine

President Joe Biden said Friday that he is planning to request more money from Congress to develop another new coronavirus vaccine, as scientists track new waves and hospitalizations rise, though not like before. Officials are already expecting updated COVID-19 vaccines that contain one version of the omicron strain, called XBB.1.5. It's an important change from today's combination shots, which mix the original coronavirus strain with last year's most common omicron variants. But there will always be a need for updated vaccines as the virus continues to mutate. It's not clear exactly when people can start rolling up their sleeves for what officials hope is an annual fall COVID-19 shot. Pfizer, Moderna and smaller manufacturer Novavax all are brewing doses of the XBB update but the Food and Drug Administration will have to sign off on each, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must then issue recommendations for their use. I signed off this morning on a proposal we

India records 56 new Covid cases, total active cases at 1,475: Govt

India saw a single-day rise of 56 new coronavirus infections while the number of active cases was recorded at 1,475, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday. The death toll was recorded at 5,31,926, the data updated at 8 am stated. The country's Covid case tally is 4.49 crore (4,49,96,732). The number of people who have recuperated from the disease has increased to 4,44,63,331, and the national recovery rate stands at 98.81 per cent, according to the health ministry's website. The case fatality rate stands at 1.18 per cent. According to the ministry's website, 220.67 crore doses of Covid vaccine have been administered in the country so far.

High exposure to Covid may reduce protection from vaccination: Study

High levels of exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus may reduce or overcome the protection that COVID-19 vaccination and prior infection provides, according to a study conducted in the US. The findings, published recently in the journal Nature Communications, suggest that in densely crowded settings, control measures that reduce levels of exposure to the virus -- such as masking, improved ventilation, and distancing -- may afford additional benefit in preventing new infections among people who have been vaccinated or previously infected. The study was performed to understand whether the immunity gained after vaccination or a prior infection was less effective or "leaky" in situations where people are exposed to high levels of the virus. "It's really hard to find a population, such as the residents of the Connecticut Department of Correction, where we know the type of exposure somebody has and we know their vaccination and prior infection status," said Margaret Lind, lead author of the ..

Study finds benefits of Covid-19 vaccines against severe cases in children

The Murdoch Children's Research Institute led a review of the international literature that was published in BMJ Paediatrics Open that examined the issues surrounding COVID-19 vaccination

72 new Covid cases in India, total active cases at 1,452: Health Ministry

India logged 72 new coronavirus infections in a day while the number of active cases was recorded at 1,452, according to the Union health ministry data updated on Saturday. The death toll stood at 5,31,925, according to the data updated at 8 am. The country's Covid case tally is 4.49 crore (4,49,96,548), it said. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease increased to 4,44,63,171 and the national recovery rate stands at 98.81 per cent, the health ministry said. The case fatality rate stands at 1.18 per cent, it said. According to the ministry's website, 220.67 crore doses of Covid vaccines have been administered in the country so far.

Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine protects against new variants, finds early study

Covid vaccine partners Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE are also developing updated shots, as is Novavax Inc. The drugmakers have been testing and making new updates as the virus has evolved