The World Bank has slashed India s GDP forecast for fiscal year 2021-22 to 8.3 per cent from 11.2 per cent predicted earlier, as the second COVID-19 wave hits India hard.
2021-06-09 12:35:27 GMT2021-06-09 20:35:27(Beijing Time) Xinhua English
NEW DELHI, June 9 (Xinhua) A joint study by researchers from Pune s National Institute of Virology, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Bharat Biotech has found that the country s indigenous COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin, offers protection against the Beta (B.1.351) and the Delta (B.1.617.2) variants, local media reports said Wednesday.
The Delta variant (B.1.617.2) was first found in India and is the dominant strain in the country. The strain caused the deadly second wave in the country. The Beta variant (B.1.351) was first discovered in South Africa.
The study evaluated the neutralisation potential of sera collected from 20 COVID-19 recovered cases and 17 people vaccinated with two doses of Covaxin against Beta and Delta variants and compared it with the prototype D614G variant.
AIIMS Delhi is going to start screening children for clinical trials of Covaxin from Monday. The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) gave nod to Bharat Biotech to conduct clinical trials on children on May 11.
Comments
As per Government of India projections, Bharat Biotech will deliver 55 crore doses of its COVID-19 Covaxin between August to December.
But as we crunch numbers, and look at these projections - it s clear that those goals are highly inflated.
While the government has roped in some pharma Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) to expand Covaxin s production, those timelines extend well beyond 2021.
But before we get into any more details, it s important to underline that Bharat Biotech has till date not released full phase 3 data of its vaccine, months after concluding the trials, and months since the vaccine has already been administered to millions of people.
Experts have warned that vaccine inequality could affect India’s already difficult fight against the pandemic. 2 hours ago A medical staff fills a syringe with the Covishield vaccine before inoculating a beneficiary as part of the countrywide Covid-19 vaccination drive at the Rajawadi hospital in Mumbai on Wednesday. | Indranil Mukherjee/ AFP
Nine corporate hospital groups in big metropolitan cities bought 50% of the coronavirus vaccine stock in May, since the Narendra Modi government made abrupt changes to its inoculation drive and opened it to the market in mid-April,
The Indian Express reported on Saturday.
Experts have repeatedly warned that vaccine inequality could hamper India’s already difficult fight against the pandemic. The Centre’s new vaccine distribution policy has allowed private hospitals to set their own prices for the shots.