Page 6 - Vaccine

Pan India rollout of U-WIN to track routine vaccinations likely by Aug end

The U-WIN portal, a replication of the Covid-19 vaccine management system Co-WIN, is set for a pan-India launch likely by the end of August, aiming to maintain an electronic registry of routine immunisations, official sources said. Currently, U-WIN is in pilot mode across all states and Union Territories, except for West Bengal, which is yet to start uploading data, the sources told PTI, adding that it is still under consideration in the state. The U-WIN platform captures every vaccination event for pregnant women and children under the Universal Immunization Programme (UIP). Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman had announced in the interim Budget for 2024-2025 that U-WIN, along with intensified efforts under Mission Indradhanush, will be rolled out nationwide for managing immunisation. "The U-WIN will ensure timely administration of vaccine doses by digitally recording every vaccination event under the Universal Immunisation Programme among all pregnant women and children aged 0

As Covid-19 ticks up, US advisers recommend a fall vaccination campaign

With fresh COVID-19 cases bubbling up in some parts of the country, health officials are setting course for a fall vaccination campaign. An influential government advisory panel on Thursday recommended new shots for all Americans this fall. The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention must endorse the recommendation. Officials acknowledged the need for vaccinations is not as dire as it was only a few years ago. Most Americans have some degree of immunity from being infected, from past vaccinations or both. COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations last month were at about their lowest point since the pandemic first hit the United States in 2020. But immunity wanes, new coronavirus variants keep emerging and there are still hundreds of COVID-19-associated deaths and thousands of hospitalizations reported each week. What's more, health officials have reported upticks this month in COVID-19-associated emergency room visits and hospitalizations, and a pronounced increase i

AstraZeneca's Imfinzi fails in late-stage trial to treat lung cancer cases

Imfinzi is a human monoclonal antibody, which works to block a tumour's ability to evade and dampen the immune system, while also boosting the body's anti-cancer immune response

Bharat Bio moves to include ICMR as co-owner in patent filings for Covaxin

As firm corrects 'inadvertent' mistake, experts feel it's not uncommon to add new parties to patent filings

Bharat Biotech moves to adds ICMR as co-owner of Covid-19 vaccine patent

Bharat Biotech was working on developing the Covid-19 vaccine as a top priority to ensure product availability at the earliest

Macron, African leaders push for vaccines after Covid exposes inequalities

French President Emmanuel Macron joined several African leaders on Thursday to kick off a planned $1 billion project to accelerate the rollout of vaccines in Africa, after the coronavirus pandemic exposed gaping inequalities in access to them. The launch of the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator, which will provide financial incentives to vaccine manufacturers, offered a momentary break for Macron from domestic political concerns as a legislative election looms on June 30 and July 7. Many African leaders and advocacy groups say Africa was unfairly locked out of access to COVID-19 treatment tools, vaccines and testing equipment that many richer countries bought up in huge quantities after the pandemic was declared in 2020. WHO, advocacy groups, the European Union and others want to help Africa get better prepared for the next pandemic, which many health experts say is inevitable. When the coronavirus pandemic began, South Africa was the only country in Africa with any abilit

Macron, African leaders push for vaccines after Covid exposed inequalities

French President Emmanuel Macron is joining several African leaders on Thursday to kick off a planned $1 billion project to accelerate the rollout of vaccines in Africa, after the coronavirus pandemic exposed gaping inequalities in access to them. The launch of the African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator, which will provide financial incentives to vaccine manufacturers, offered a momentary break for Macron from domestic political concerns as legislative elections loom on June 30 and July 7. Many African leaders and advocacy groups say Africa was unfairly locked out of access to COVID-19 treatment tools, vaccines and testing equipment that many richer countries bought up in huge quantities after the pandemic swept the world starting in 2020. WHO, advocacy groups and others want to help Africa get better prepared for the next pandemic, which many health experts say is inevitable. When the coronavirus pandemic began, South Africa was the only country in Africa with any ability to .

Vaccine group Gavi seeks $11.9 bn to immunise world's poorest children

The amount will be finalised at a meeting on Thursday in Paris, where donors will make pledges for the organisation's plan for 2026-2030

US' Kansas sues Pfizer for hiding Covid vaccine risks, making false claims

The lawsuit filed by Kansas, a US state, alleged that Pfizer promoted its vaccine's safety while hiding evidence linking it to pregnancy complications, such as miscarriages, and heart inflammations

Two dozen companies working to find bird flu vaccine for cows: US agri secy

Bird flu has infected 90 dairy herds across 12 states since late March, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). Three dairy farm workers also have been infected with the virus

World's largest vaccine maker Serum Institute sees demand doubling in 5 yrs

The world's largest vaccine maker currently has the capacity to produce 3 billion doses of all types of vaccines each year, but only sells about 1.5 billion doses annually

Covid shots should target JN.1, KP.2 subvariants in 2024-25 campaign: USFDA

FDA reviewers said since the difference between JN.1 and newer subvariants such as KP.2 subvariants is not much, it is possible that vaccines developed against JN.1 may adequately protect against KP.2

US govt nears deal to fund late-stage trial of Moderna's bird flu vaccine

It is expected to total several tens of millions of dollars, and could be accompanied by a commitment to procure doses if the phase-three trials are successful, according to the report

Covid vaccine maker BioNTech gets $145 mn funding for plant in Africa

A future African network could produce affordable vaccines to fight malaria, mpox, tuberculosis or other health threats, they added

WHO hopes to bring countries together on reinforcing pandemic preparedness

The World Health Organisation begins its annual meeting on Monday with government ministers and other top envoys hoping to reinforce global preparedness for the next pandemic in the devastating wake of COVID-19. But the most ambitious project, to adopt a pandemic treaty, has been shelved for now after 2 1/2 years of work failed to produce a draft that countries could unite behind by Friday, as originally hoped. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus insists it's not a failure and the World Health Assembly this week can still plot the way forward. When diplomats, health officials and activists were still attempting to produce a draft treaty, he predicted the assembly could be one of the most significant in WHO's 76-year history. Not anymore. WHO officials and others have been eager to build on the momentum of concern from the coronavirus pandemic, with the risk that the more it fades into history, the less the public and policymakers will be interested in preparing for a

Non-profit criticises ICMR for rejecting Covaxin study, alleges censorship

Researchers associated with Banaras Hindu University have said Bharat Biotech's Covid-19 vaccine has side effects in children

Serum Institute ships its first set of malaria vaccine doses to Africa

The vaccine has been developed in collaboration with the University of Oxford and Novavax's Matrix-M adjuvant

BHU study on Covaxin side effects poorly designed: ICMR director Bahl

The Indian Council of Medical Research Director General Dr Rajiv Bahl on Monday criticised a recently published study on the long-term safety analysis of the Covaxin in adults and adolescents for its poor methodology and design, and clarified the article misleadingly and erroneously "acknowledges" ICMR. Dr Bahl said the study had no control arm of unvaccinated individuals for comparing the rates of events between the vaccinated and unvaccinated groups. Hence, the reported events in the study cannot be linked or attributed to COVID-19 vaccination. The ICMR is not associated with the study and has not provided any financial or technical support for the research, Dr Bahl said. The ICMR DG has written a letter to the authors of the paper and Editor of the journal to immediately remove the acknowledgement to ICMR and publish an erratum. A research paper, titled 'Long-Term Safety Analysis of the BBVl52 Coronavirus Vaccine in Adolescents and Adults: Findings from a l-Year Prospective Stud

SII to acquire 20% stake in needle-free tech company IntegriMedical

The collaboration leverages SII's manufacturing and distribution strength with IntegriMedical's innovative technology

Covaxin has 'excellent record', says Bharat Biotech after study cites risks

The research conducted by BHU indicated that Covaxin increased the rare risk of stroke and Guillain-Barre syndrome, among other issues