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India may allow smaller gap between Covishield doses sold privately: Report

Earlier this month, the high court in the southern state of Kerala ordered changes in the health ministry’s vaccine-booking platform to give people paying for vaccination this choice, which is already being offered to those flying abroad. 

“Since the high court has given a judgement, it will have to be done,” said one of the sources. “For the government’s programme, the ideal gap remains 12 weeks.”

U.S. VP Harris to announce $10 bln global fund to prepare for future pandemics

The new Global Health Security Financial Intermediary Fund will be created at the World Bank to coalesce resources for pandemic preparedness, the White House official said.

The Biden administration will also request an additional $850 million from the U.S. Congress for the fund, to build on the $630 million in such funding that was secured for fiscal year 2021.

No ‘serious or severe’ adverse effect post COVID-19 immunisation report so far: Govt

A total of 3,81,305 beneficiaries have so far been vaccinated for COVID-19 and 580 adverse events following immunisation were reported in the country till now, the Union health ministry said on Monday.
He said a cumulative 580 adverse events following immunisation (AEFI) and seven cases of hospitalisation have so far been reported in the country since the nationwide COVID-19 inoculation drive began on January 16.

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World on brink of “Catastrophic Moral Failure” on vaccines: WHO Chief

The global scramble for shots has intensified as more infectious virus variants circulate.Tedros said more than 39 million vaccine doses had been administered in 49 higher-income countries whereas just 25 doses had been given in one poor country.

He said even as some countries pronounced reassuring words on equitable access, they were prioritising their own deals with manufacturers, driving up prices and trying to jump the queue.

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Steel companies engage with vaccine makers for bulk supply of doses for employees

State-owned RINL and Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) have sent details of its employees to the administration and who will be vaccinated based on priority.

Both SAIL and RINL also run hospitals at their plant sites.

A Tata Steel spokesperson said the company has been working very closely with the government and respective state governments of Jharkhand and Odisha from the start of the pandemic and serving the community with medical facilities at various locations of its operations.

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Norway says no link between vaccine and post-jab deaths

The Norwegian Medicines Agency said last week that normal side effects from messenger RNA vaccines, such as fever and nausea, “may have contributed to a fatal outcome in some frail patients.”

A number of countries, including Norway’s neighbours Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Sweden, have reported post-vaccination deaths but no direct links to the vaccine have been established.

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Allianz Risk Barometer 2021: Covid-19 trio tops global and Asia Pacific business risks

“The Allianz Risk Barometer 2021 is clearly dominated by the Covid-19 trio of risks. Business interruption, pandemic and cyber are strongly interlinked, demonstrating the growing vulnerabilities of our highly globalized and connected world,” says Joachim Müller, CEO of AGCS.

“The coronavirus pandemic is a reminder that risk management and business continuity management need to further evolve in order to help businesses prepare for, and survive, extreme events. While the pandemic continues to have a firm grip on countries around the world, we also have to ready ourselves for more frequent extreme scenarios, such as a global-scale cloud outage or cyber-attack, natural disasters driven by climate change or even another disease outbreak,” he said.

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UK begins major trial for new inhaler-based Covid-19 treatment

“We need treatments as well as vaccines to fight highly pathogenic viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 [Covid-19]. Development of treatments like ours will remain necessary in cases where vaccines are not effective, for those who do not get vaccinated, and in case the virus mutates to the point where vaccines become less effective,” said Richard Marsden, CEO of Synairgen.

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