Page 6 - Coronavirus Vaccine

100 scientists spend two years renaming viruses after Covid mistakes

Airborne viruses will be called "pathogens that transmit through the air" under new terminology the World Health Organization hopes will end a scientific rift that hampered early response to Covid 19

Oppn made Modi govt provide for free Covid-19 vaccines, says Congress

The Congress on Friday claimed that the Modi government was "dragged into" providing free COVID-19 vaccinations on the insistence of the opposition and the Supreme Court, and said it is hard to forget the "extent of the mismanagement" that occurred during the pandemic. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the BJP has been touting free COVID-19 vaccinations as a big achievement. "The truth is the Modi Sarkar was dragged into doing so by the insistence of the Opposition and the intervention of the Supreme Court. Aap chronology samajhiye: On April 18, 2021, Dr. Manmohan Singh writes to the Prime Minister, urging him to clarify vaccine policy - which until then was chaotic and not systematized - and giving him well-thought out suggestions on how to maximise vaccinations," Ramesh said on X. On April 19, 2021, the Union government announced the "Liberalised Pricing and Accelerated National COVID-19 Vaccination Strategy" which made the vaccination of citizens between 18 and 44 yea

Moderna secures $750 mn from Blackstone Life Sciences to develop flu shots

Blackstone Life Sciences will get commercial milestone payments and low-single digit royalties as part of the agreement, the COVID-19 vaccine maker said

Bharat Biotech's TB vaccine MTBVAC begins clinical trials in India

The trials will assess the vaccine's safety, immune response, and efficacy in preventing TB in adults and adolescents. MTBVAC has been developed after research spanning over three decades

Four years after lockdown, frontline workers reflect on pandemic days

Looking back, moving on: Doctors, nurses, ambulance drivers say Covid-19 has left them life-altering lessons

Serum looks beyond Covid with new vaccines for malaria, dengue: CEO

Serum produces AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine under the brand name Covishield in India, and also makes Novavax's protein-based Covid shots

Persistent Covid infections may be more common than expected: Report

A high proportion of COVID-19 infections in the general population lead to persistent infections lasting a month or more, according to a study. It has long been thought that prolonged COVID-19 infections in immunocompromised individuals may have been the source of the multiple new variants that arose during the pandemic and seeded successive waves of infection, the researchers said. However, until now, the prevalence of persistentS-CoV-2 infections in the general population and how the virus evolves in these situations remained unknown, they said. The study, published in the journal Nature, used data from the UK Office for National Statistics COVID-19 Infection Survey (ONS-CIS), which tested participants monthly. Of the over 90,000 participants, 3,603 provided two or more Covid positive samples between November 2020 and August 2022. Of these, 381 individuals tested positive for the same variant over a period of a month or longer. Within this group, 54 individuals had a persistent .

No impact on immune system of man who took over 200 Covid vaccines: Study

Researchers have examined a man in Germany who claims to have received 217 vaccinations against COVID-19 and found that his immune system was fully functional. Until now, it has been unclear what effects hypervaccination such as this would have on the immune system. Some scientists were of the opinion that immune cells would become less effective after becoming used to the antigens. However, the case study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal found that the immune system of the person is fully functional. More than 60 million people in Germany have been vaccinated againstS-CoV-2, a majority of them several times, the researchers said. The man examined by a team at FriedrichAlexander University ErlangenNurnberg (FAU) in Germany claims to have received 217 vaccinations for private reasons. There is official confirmation for 134 of these vaccinations, they said. "We learned about his case via newspaper articles," said Kilian Schober from FAU. "We then contacted him an

White House lifting Covid-19 testing rule for people around Prez Biden

The White House on Monday lifted its COVID-19 testing requirement for those who plan to be in close contact with President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and their spouses, bringing to an end the last coronavirus prevention protocol at the White House. The White House said the change aligns its policies with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance. The agency last week relaxed its recommendation that those who test positive for COVID-19 isolate for five days. Now, the agency says people can return to work or regular activities if their symptoms are mild and improving and it's been a day since they've had a fever. The White House testing protocol was instituted shortly after the pandemic began in 2020 when former President Donald Trump was in the White House. It was further strengthened by Biden's administration when he took office amid the pandemic in January 2021. Both Trump and Biden contracted the virus while in office. Trump required hospitalization afte

India has done great job in vaccinating children, says Bill Gates

Indian leadership is something other countries should benefit from and talked about India's remarks about the willingness to help others during the G20 summit, he said

Older US adults should get another Covid-19 shot: Govt advisory panel

Older US adults should roll up their sleeves for another COVID-19 shot, even if they got a booster in the fall, an influential government advisory panel said on Wednesday. The panel voted 11-1 to say Americans 65 and older should get another dose of the updated vaccine that became available in September if at least four months has passed since their last shot. The committee advises the head of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, who will decide whether to sign off on the recommendation. The panel's decision came after a lengthy discussion about whether to say older people may get the shots or if they should" do so. That reflects a debate among experts about how necessary another booster is and whether yet another recommendation will add to the public's growing vaccine fatigue. Some doctors say most older adults are adequately protected by the fall shot, which built on immunity derived from earlier vaccinations and exposure to the virus itself. And preliminary studies so

Moderna reports surprise Q4 profit, sets out road map for RSV vaccine

Moderna recorded $6.8 billion in sales from its COVID vaccine in 2023, down from $18.4 billion in 2022 but slightly above Wall Street estimates of $6.7 billion

India records 105 fresh Covid-19 infections, active cases stand at 875

India saw a single-day rise of 105 COVID-19 cases, while the number of active cases of the infection was recorded at 875, the Union health ministry said on Tuesday. A new death due to the viral disease was reported from Punjab in a span of 24 hours, according to the ministry's data updated at 8 am. The number of daily Covid cases was in double digits till December 5, 2023, but it began to rise after the emergence of a new variant of the virus and cold weather conditions. After December 5, the maximum of 841 cases were reported on December 31, 2023, which was 0.2 per cent of the peak number of cases reported in May 2021, official sources said. India has witnessed three Covid waves in the past, with the peak incidence of daily cases and deaths being reported during the Delta wave in April-June 2021. At its peak, 4,14,188 new Covid cases and 3,915 deaths due to the infection were reported on May 7, 2021. Since the pandemic broke out in early 2020, more than 4.5 crore people in India

Covid vaccine complications range from neurological to heart issues: Study

The viral-vector jabs were also tied to an increased risk of Guillain-Barre syndrome, a neurological disorder in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the peripheral nervous system

Covid-19 updates: India records 110 new cases, total active tally at 893

India has logged 110 new cases of Covid, while the number of active cases of the infection stood at 893, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday. No new deaths have been reported in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am stated. The number of daily cases had dropped to double-digits till December 5, 2023 but cases had begun to increase after emergence of a new variant and cold weather conditions. After December 5, a maximum of 841 new cases were reported on December 31, 2023 which is 0.2 per cent of the peak cases reported in May 2021. India has witnessed three waves of COVID-19 in the past with the peak incidence of daily new cases and deaths being reported during the Delta wave in April-June 2021. At its peak, 4,14,188 new cases and 3,915 deaths were reported on May 7, 2021. Since the pandemic began in early 2020, more than 4.5 crore people have been infected and over 5.3 lakh deaths recorded.

Four new Covid deaths reported across country, active caseload at 876

India has logged 123 new cases of Covid, while the number of active cases of the infection stood at 876, according to the Union Health Ministry's data updated on Tuesday. Four new deaths --two from Delhi and one each from Gujarat and Maharashtra-- have been reported in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am stated. The number of daily cases had dropped to double-digits till December 5, 2023 but cases had begun to increase after emergence of a new variant and cold weather conditions. After December 5, a maximum of 841 new cases were reported on December 31, 2023 which is 0.2 per cent of the peak cases reported in May 2021, official sources said. India has witnessed three waves of COVID-19 in the past with the peak incidence of daily new cases and deaths being reported during the Delta wave in April-June 2021. At its peak, 4,14,188 new cases and 3,915 deaths were reported on May 7, 2021. Since the pandemic began in early 2020, more than 4.5 crore people have been infected and

India records 74 new Covid-19 infections, active cases stand at 871

India has recorded a single-day rise of 74 new COVID-19 infections and the number of active cases of the disease in the country stands at 871, according to Union Health Ministry data on Monday. No new deaths due to the disease were reported in 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed. India has witnessed three waves of COVID-19 in the past with the peak incidence of daily new cases and deaths being reported in the delta wave during April-June 2021. At its peak, 414,188 new cases and 3915 deaths were reported on May 7, 2021. Since the pandemic began in early 2020, more than 4.5 crore people have been infected and over 5.3 lakh deaths due to the disease recorded in the country. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease stands at over 4.4 crore, according to the ministry's website. Besides, 220.67 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines have so far been administered in the country.

India records 114 new Covid infections, active cases stand at 870

India has registered a single-day rise of 114 new COVID-19 infections and the number of active cases of the disease in the country stands at 870, the Union Health Ministry said on Sunday. One fresh fatality due to the disease was reported in Maharashtra, according to the ministry's data updated at 8 am. The number of daily cases had dropped to double digits till December 5, but cases began to increase after the emergence of a new variant and cold weather conditions. India has witnessed three waves of COVID-19 in the past with the peak incidence of daily new cases and deaths being reported during the delta wave in April-June 2021. At its peak, 4,14,188 new cases and 3,915 deaths were reported on May 7, 2021. Since the pandemic began in early 2020, more than 4.5 crore people have been infected and over 5.3 lakh deaths reported across the country due to the disease. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease stands at over 4.4 crore, according to the ministry's ...

India registers 163 fresh Covid-19 cases, 2 deaths, active caseload at 874

India saw a single-day rise of 163 COVID-19 cases while the number of active cases of the infection was recorded at 874, the health ministry said on Friday. Two new deaths due to the viral disease -- one each from Karnataka and Maharashtra -- were reported in a span of 24 hours, according to the ministry's data updated at 8 am. The number of daily cases was in double digits till December 5 last year, but it began to rise after the emergence of a new variant of the virus and cold weather conditions. After December 5, the highest number of 841 fresh cases was reported on December 31, which was 0.2 per cent of the peak cases reported in May 2021, official sources said. India has witnessed three Covid waves in the past, with the peak incidence of daily new cases and deaths being reported during the Delta wave in April-June 2021. At its peak, 4,14,188 new coronavirus cases and 3,915 deaths were reported on May 7, 2021. Since the pandemic broke out in early 2020, more than 4.5 crore pe

Covid-19 got mutated 223 times, effects have come down: Mandaviya

The COVID-19 virus got mutated 223 times in the world and its harmful effects have come done substantially over time, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said in Lok Sabha on Friday. He also said that COVID-19 will continue to remain like influenza and its present variants are not deadly. "When a virus gets mutated more than 100 times, its harmful effects get reduced. Covid also got mutated. So far, the Covid virus got mutated 223 times," he said during the Question Hour. He said that like influenza, which hits people once or twice every year, "Covid is with us and it will remain". "Covid sub-variants are not that deadly and there are no negative effects," he said. Mandaviya said health is such an issue where all stake holders and countries should come together and work. "We have seen the positive results during the pandemic when we all worked together," he said. The minister said India has a robust medicine production infrastructure and the world has recognised this. "We are