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COVID-19 Medical Updates

Indian vaccines are safe, says Health Minister Harsh Vardhan

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Troubled by fears of a significant section of health care workers refusing to come forward to get vaccinated against Covid-19, the government on Thursday released a set of IEC (Information Education and Communication) posters to address the issue of vaccine hesitancy.

“The paradox is that countries across the world are asking us for access to vaccines while a section of our own is fomenting misinformation and doubts for narrow political ends,” Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said while releasing the posters.

There have been reports that many healthcare workers, mainly paramedical personnel, have stayed away from taking vaccine shots, thus reducing the number of vaccinations carried out in various States. Vaccine hesitance was the second major reason, after the glitches in Co-WIN software, for the poor realization of vaccinations in many States so far.

“Let us put a stop to these falsehoods,” Vardhan said urging people to seek correct information from authentic sources.

Explaining the role of vaccination in eradicating diseases, the Minister said, “The elimination of polio and smallpox was made possible by large scale immunization. Once immunized, not only that person is not capable of catching the disease, he/she is also unable to transmit the disease to others thus passing on the social benefit to the larger society he/she interacts with….Vaccination against Covid will similarly create persons incapable of transmitting the disease and eradicate the disease altogether in some time.”

All eminent doctors of well-known hospitals have taken the vaccine and praised the exercise for its desired end. It is only a handful of vested political interests who are interested in spreading rumors and encouraging vaccine hesitancy among those vulnerable to such propaganda,” he said. Prominent doctors along with many other healthcare workers in the government and private sector have taken the Covid-19 vaccine and have returned to their work without any side effects, the Minister added.

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COVID-19 Medicine & Health

First coronavirus vaccine shots likely on January 13: Health Ministry

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Addressing the media, health ministry secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that “based on the feedback of dry-run”, the government is ready to introduce coronavirus vaccine “within 10 days from the date of emergency use authorization.

Union Health Ministry announced on Tuesday that coronavirus vaccines will be rolled out within 10 days of granting emergency use approval based on the feedback of dry-run across the country.

The announcement by the ministry comes just days after the DCGI (Drugs Controller General of India) approved Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, Covishield, domestically manufactured by the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech’s indigenous Covaxin for restricted emergency use.

Addressing the media, health ministry secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that “based on the feedback of dry-run”, the government is ready to introduce coronavirus vaccine “within 10 days from the date of emergency use authorization.

The ministry also put forward the CoWIN Delivery Management plan. “There are 4 primary vaccine stores called GMSD located in Karnal, Mumbai, Chennai, and Kolkata, and there are 37 vaccine stores in the country. They store vaccines in bulk and distribute further,” Bhushan informed during a press briefing, adding that the vaccine will further be taken from these stores and taken to sub-centers “via passive equipment like rice boxes.”

India’s drugs regulator DCGI had on Sunday approved Oxford University’s Covid-19 vaccine ‘Covishield’ being manufactured by the Serum Institute, and the indigenously developed ‘Covaxin’ manufactured by Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use in the country, paving way for a massive inoculation drive.

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COVID-19 Medical Updates Uncategorized

Who will get the first Covid vaccine in India? Health Minister says ‘have prioritised 30 cr people’

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  • On voluntary Covid-19 vaccination, the Health Minister said that the government’s effort is that everyone on the priority list takes the vaccine
  • ‘But if anyone decides not to take it, we can’t force them,’ Dr Harsh Vardhan said

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Monday said that the Centre has prioritised 30 crore people for a vaccine against the novel coronavirus.

Speaking to news agency ANI, he said, “After consultation with experts, we’ve prioritised 30 crore people for COVID vaccine. It includes health workers, frontline workers like police, military & sanitation staff, people above 50 yrs & those who are below 50 yrs but are suffering from certain diseases”.

On voluntary Covid-19 vaccination, the Health Minister said that the government’s effort is that everyone on the priority list takes the vaccine. “We will address the issue of vaccine hesitancy. But if anyone decides not to take it, we can’t force them,” Dr Harsh Vardhan said.

Meanwhile, Dr. Harsh Vardhan has said that people of India could get a Covid-19 vaccine shot in January.

“Our first priority has been the safety and effectiveness of vaccines. We don’t want to compromise on that. I personally feel, maybe in any week of January, we can be in a position to give the first Covid vaccine shot to people of India,” Vardhan was quoted as saying.

India to start voluntary Covid vaccination

The Central Government had earlier said that it could soon start voluntary inoculation against the Covis-19 as it considers emergency use authorisation for three vaccine candidates including those from AstraZeneca and Pfizer.

Hyderabad-based firm Bharat Biotech has also applied for emergency approval.

“The government of India is geared to launch a vaccine for COVID-19 soon,” the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had said in a public advisory.

“Vaccination for COVID-19 is voluntary. However, it is advisable to receive the complete schedule of COVID-19 vaccine.”

It also added that even those who have been infected by the killer virus should be vaccinated.

Meanwhile, India on Sunday, recorded 26,624 fresh coronavirus cases, 29,690 recoveries, and 341 deaths.

source: https://www.livemint.com/

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COVID-19 Medical Updates Medicine & Health

Covid-19: Bharat Biotech in talks to take vaccine candidate global

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India’s Bharat Biotech is in discussions with more than 10 countries that have shown an interest in a potential COVID-19 vaccine it is developing with a government agency, a company executive told Reuters on Friday.

The company, based in Hyderabad, this week received initial approval from Indian authorities to conduct late-stage trials for its vaccine candidate, COVAXIN.

The potential vaccine was found to be safe without any major adverse events in the first two stages of the trials involving about 1,000 people, Executive Director Sai Prasad said in a phone interview, adding that more than 90% of them developed antibodies against the novel coronavirus.

“We are in active discussions with more than 10 countries that have shown an interest in COVAXIN,” he said.

“We are talking to some of the countries about partnerships to conduct clinical trials and introduce the vaccine, and in some countries, we are in talks to manufacture the vaccine locally.”

He declined to name the countries but said they were located in South America, Asia and Central Asia, and Eastern Europe.

For third-stage trials in India, Bharat Biotech plans to enroll about 25,000 to 26,000 participants in around 12-14 states, he added.

India’s Zydus Cadila is currently conducting mid-stage trials of its own vaccine hopeful, while Serum Institute is making potential vaccines from AstraZeneca NSE 1.51 %, Novavax, and Codagenix Inc, as well as developing its own.

India has the world’s second-highest number of reported coronavirus cases at 7.8 million, more than a 100,000 of whom have died.