COVID-19-Vaccine

India has approved the Covid-19 vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, paving the way for a huge immunisation campaign in the world’s second most populous country.

The information and broadcasting minister, Prakash Javadekar, said on Saturday that the vaccine had been given the green light on Friday.

It is the first Covid-19 vaccine to be approved for emergency use by India, which has the highest number of infections after the US.

ndia’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) is expected to announce the dosage and other details later. It has applied for a two full-dose regime about 28 days apart.

The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, which was granted its first approval by Britain on Tuesday, is cheaper and easier to use than some rivals, major advantages in tackling a pandemic that has claimed more than 1.8 million lives worldwide.

“India is perhaps the only country where at least four vaccines are getting ready,” he said. “One was approved yesterday for emergency use, Serum’s Covishield.” he said. The Oxford/AstraZeneca shot is being made locally by the Serum Institute of India (SII)

Coronavirus News Updates: State Health Commissioner Katamaneni Bhaskar said the dry run is aimed at testing the planned operations and the laid out mechanisms for COVID-19 vaccination in the state

or the first time since May,  a district in Andhra Pradesh reported zero cases of coronavirus even as a total of 349 were added afresh across the state in 24 hours ending 9 am on Sunday. Vizianagaram achieved the distinction by not adding a single case in a day and incidentally, it was the last district in the state to join the Covid-19 chart on 7 May. Vizianagaram now has only 54 active coronavirus cases, the lowest in the state. And, Chittoor district reported 105 fresh cases, the first district to cross the century mark in a day in close to three weeks.

     

The latest bulletin said 422 patients had recovered from the infection while two more succumbed in 24 hours.The state Covid-19 table now showed a total of 8,81,061 confirmed cases, 8,70,342 recoveries and 7,094 deaths, with 3,625 active cases.

The coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca should be effective against the highly transmissible new strain of the virus, a UK media report said on Sunday. The Oxford vaccine, which also has a tie-up with the Serum Institute of India, is expected to win approval in the UK before Thursday, speeding up the provision of the jab to the most vulnerable groups. Approval for the AstraZeneca vaccine would mean we are well on course to do that by the spring, a senior government official was quoted as saying by The Sunday Times. The source warned that the new strain of COVID-19 had overtaken the old and was running rampant in the UK. The latest figures are not good, but the guidance is the MHRA [the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency] will give the Oxford vaccine the go-ahead by midweek, the source said.

AstraZeneca's chief executive, Pascal Soriot, said that new data will show the vaccine is as effective as the Pfizer and Moderna jabs that have already been approved, protecting 95 percent of patients, and is 100 percent effective in preventing severe illness requiring hospital treatment. He said that it "should be" effective against the new highly transmissible variant of the deadly virus, which put England under complete lockdown again after its rapid spread was detected.

Vaccine dry run to be held in Andhra Pradesh's Krishna district tomorrow

 A dry run of the coronavirus vaccination programme will be held in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh on Monday.Andhra Pradesh is one of the four states chosen by the Centre to carry out end-to-end dry run for COVID-19vaccination on 28 December.  The state government picked up Krishna district for the

dry run, where it will be carried out in five locations, according to Health Commissioner Katamaneni Bhaskar.

"The dry run is aimed at testing the planned operations and the laid out mechanisms for COVID-19 vaccination in the state. It will provide insights into any gaps or bottlenecks so that those could be addressed before the commencement of the actual drive," Bhaskar said on the eve of the programme. It would be used to test the preparedness for vaccinating pre-identified beneficiaries from specified groups supported by Co-WIN, an electronic application.

RT-PCR tests for international arrivals on seventh day after arrival: BMC

In view of the emergence of a new coronavirus variant in the UK, the Mumbai civic body on Sunday issued revised guidelines to ensure the compulsory quarantine for 14 days for all passengers arriving from the UK, Europe, and West Asia. As per the amended Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), travellers will be kept under institutional quarantine after arrival and RT-PCR test will be conducted on the seventh day from the arrival at the respective hotels, institutional facilities at their own coast.

"If the report of the test is found negative, the passenger would be discharged from the institutional quarantine after seven days with the advice of seven days mandatory home quarantine. A total of 14 days quarantine is to be ensured," the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said in a release.