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Explainer: What’s behind varying efficacy data for Sinovac’s coronavirus vaccine?

Sinovac said its trial designs are not identical among countries, but the results are sufficient to prove that the vaccine is safe and effective.

Jerome Kim, head of vaccine research group International Vaccine Institute said it would be possible to combine data from multiple studies with varied trial designs but it could involve additional statistical manipulation.

“That could compromise the clean interpretation of the results, and may impact the chance for these data to be accepted by regulatory bodies.”

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11 Indian cos in top-500 globally by value, country ranked 10th: Report

All these companies in the list of non-state enterprises have gained in value during 2020, which was hit by the pandemic, barring tobacco major ITC and second largest private sector lender ICICI Bank, as per the ‘Hurun Global 500’ report.Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries leads among the local enterprises with a 20.5 per cent jump in valuation to USD 168.8 billion as of December 1 and is ranked 54th globally, as per the list.

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Covid-19: No herd immunity in 2021, WHO warns

WHO’s chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan warned it would take time to produce and administer enough vaccine doses to halt the spread of the virus.

“We are not going to achieve any levels of population immunity or herd immunity in 2021,” she said, stressing the need to maintain physical distancing, hand-washing and mask-wearing to rein in the pandemic.

BioNTech, warned that Covid-19 would “likely become an endemic disease”, and said vaccines would need to fight against the emergence of new viral variants and a “naturally waning immune response”.

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Japan passport most powerful in 2021, Pakistan continues to be in worst category: Report

According to the report released on January 5, Japanese citizens can travel to as many as 191 countries visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 191 destinations around the world. Singapore is in second place (with a score of 190) and South Korea ties with Germany in third place (with a score of 189).Countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Switzerland are tied at the seventh position with regard to the most powerful passports in the world with a visa-free score of 185. Australia stands at the 8th position with a visa score of 184.

India ranks 85th in the most powerful passport report with a visa-free score of 58.

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