These companies have sold the majority of doses to rich countries,...
Category:
Pandemic
Latest
Delta dominates the world, but scientists watch for worrisome offspring
People infected with Delta carry around 1,200 times more virus in...
Pfizer to allow generic versions of its COVID pill in 95 countries
Pfizer, which also makes one of the mostly widely used COVID-19...
Govt fixes Covid vaccine price at Rs 250 a shot for pvt hospitals
The Union Government has fixed the price of vaccines at Rs 250 for a dose which would be available at private hospitals for people above 60 years of age and those above 45 years of age with comorbidities, and will be vaccinated starting March 1, sources said.
The government has decided that the people will be vaccinated free of cost at the government hospitals.
The cost break-up is Rs 150 for a dose plus Rs 100 as a service charge which the private facilities can charge from the beneficiaries.
UK health insurers’ profitability still strong despite coronavirus disruption:Fitch
Claims have reduced due to restricted hospital access, but we do not expect increased profits for insurers – any “excess” profits are likely to be used to meet the expected surge in demand from postponed elective surgeries or returned to policyholders through premium rebates.
Govt plans two-day halt in vaccinations for software upgrade to widen campaign
“The countrywide vaccination exercise is being exponentially expanded,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that a new version of its Co-Win digital platform was being rolled out at the weekend.
Co-Win, wrapped into a government mobile telephone app, is being widely used to fix vaccination appointments, allow health authorities to monitor supplies and download proof of immunisation.
Indians allowed to choose vaccination sites as government seeks faster roll-out
But the inoculation campaign has progressed slower than expected due to a reluctance of health and front-line workers to take the home-grown COVAXIN shot that was approved without late-stage efficacy data. Only 11% of vaccinated people have opted for the product developed by Bharat Biotech and the state-run Indian Council of Medical Research.
With the world’s highest tally of infections after the United States, India wants to vaccinate 300 million of its 1.35 billion people by August. The decision to give people a choice of vaccines could now speed up the roll-out, officials believe.
India’s economy exits from recession, recovery seen gathering pace
Gross domestic product grew 0.4% in October-December compared with the same period a year earlier, data released by the National Statistics Office on Friday showed. That compared with revised contractions of 7.3% in July-September and 24.4% in April-June.
Investment recorded its first growth since December 2019, growing at 2.6% compared to a revised 6.8% fall in the previous quarter, while weakness in consumer demand eased.
Indian Insurance industry has recovered, pays Rs 9,000 crore Covid-19 pandemic claims :IRDAI Chief
While stressing the importance of Customer Data privacy, Khuntia added that the usage of data beyond a point of granularity should be avoided and insurers should not deny a coverage to the people on the ground, which is not under the control of the customers.
He was addressing a seminar on the theme of “Navigating Uncertainty: Insight-Driven Innovation “ organized by National Insurance Academy, in association with Swiss Re, on Friday.
DGCA extends suspension of int”l commercial passenger flights till Mar 31
However, international scheduled flights may be allowed on select routes by the competent authority on case-to-case basis, it said.
The restriction will not apply to cargo flights and flights specifically approved by DGCA, the circular added.
India says virus variants not behind upsurge in cases
A top government health official confirmed the long-time presence of two mutants – N440K and E484Q – in those two states as well as elsewhere in the country and abroad. Authorities have also found the UK variant in 187 people in India, the South African one in six and one case of the Brazilian mutation.
“There is no reason today for us to believe, on the basis of scientific information, that these are responsible for the upsurge of the outbreak,” Vinod Kumar Paul, who heads a government committee on vaccines, told a news conference.
India’s COVID-19 active caseload stands at 1.46 lakh
The ministry said that in the last one week, Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Punjab, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Telangana, Delhi and Haryana have reported more than 100 average daily new cases, whereas Kerala and Maharashtra both report more than 4,000 average daily new cases in past one week.
India’s COVID-19 active caseload falls below 1.5 lakh; no fresh deaths in 21 states, UTs
India’s daily positivity rate remains below three percent, the ministry noted.
The country reported 78 new COVID-19 fatalities on Tuesday, the health ministry said, as it underlined that a steady decline is being observed in the number of daily new deaths.