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Q&A: Where are we in the COVID-19 vaccine race?

The World Health Organization has recommended a minimum standard for effectiveness of at least 50%. The United States and some other regulators are following that guideline – which means there must be at least twice as many infections among volunteers who received a placebo as among those in the vaccine group. The European Medicines Agency has said it may accept a lower efficacy level.

Pfizer said its vaccine is more than 90% effective against COVID-19.

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One in five COVID-19 patients develop mental illness within 90 days – Lancet study

People have been worried that COVID-19 survivors will be at greater risk of mental health problems, and our findings … show this to be likely,” said Paul Harrison, a professor of psychiatry at Britain’s Oxford University.

Doctors and scientists around the world urgently need to investigate the causes and identify new treatments for mental illness after COVID-19, Harrison said.

“(Health) services need to be ready to provide care, especially since our results are likely to be underestimates (of the number of psychiatric patients),” he added.

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IIT study cites risk of plastic contamination in drinking tea from disposable paper cups

“Our research has confirmed contamination of the hot liquid served in paper cups due to the degradation of microplastics and other hazardous components from the lining material of the cup. Paper cups are usually lined by a thin layer of hydrophobic film which is made of mostly plastic (polyethylene) and sometimes co-polymers to hold the liquid in the paper cup. Within 15 minutes this microplastic layer degrades as a reaction to hot water, ” said Sudha Goel, Associate Professor at IIT Kharagpur

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With cases soaring, Biden to announce COVID-19 task force

The coronavirus task force will be charged with developing a blueprint for containing the disease once Biden takes office in January. It will be headed by three co-chairs, former surgeon general Vivek Murthy, former Food and Drug Administration commissioner David Kessler, and Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith of Yale University, according to two people familiar with the matter.

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Biden wins US presidential race,to inherit a nation in turmoil over the coronavirus pandemic

Biden has said his first priority will be developing a plan to contain and recover from the pandemic, promising to improve access to testing and, unlike Trump, to heed the advice of leading public health officials and scientists.

Despite his victory, Biden will have failed to deliver the sweeping repudiation to Trump that Democrats had hoped for, reflecting the deep support the president enjoys despite his tumultuous four years in office.

This could complicate Biden’s campaign promises to reverse key parts of Trump’s legacy. These include deep Trump tax cuts that especially benefited corporations and the wealthy, hardline immigration policies, efforts to dismantle the 2010 Obamacare healthcare law and Trump’s abandonment of such international agreements as the Paris climate accord and Iran nuclear deal.

Should Republicans keep control of the U.S. Senate, they would likely block large parts of his legislative agenda, including expanding healthcare and fighting climate change.

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India’s COVID-19 caseload goes past 84 lakh with 47,638 fresh infections

A total 77,65,966 people have recuperated from COVID-19 so far, pushing the national recovery rate to 92.32 per cent, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.49 per cent.

The number of active COVID-19 cases remained below 6 lakh for the eighth consecutive day.

There are 5,20,773 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country as on date, which comprises 6.19 per cent of the total caseload, data stated.

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Haze Chokes Delhi, pollution levels highest since November last yr

 Health experts said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, air pollution has become a serious health concern for about the two crore residents of the national capital.

According to a doctor at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, intake of every 22 micrograms per cubic metre of polluted air is equivalent to smoking a cigarette.

 Ajit Jain, the nodal officer for COVID-19 at Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital, said air pollution was turning the pandemic catastrophic.

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