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Hope to start supply of ZyCoV-D vaccine by mid to end Sept: Zydus Group MD
Severe Covid-19 breakthrough cases mostly in older, sicker patients: Doctors
Such “breakthrough” cases have become central to a global debate over whether highly vaccinated countries should give booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines, and to which people. Israel began offering booster doses to people age 60 and up in July, and has since expanded that eligibility.
The United States, citing data out of Israel and other findings, said on Wednesday it would make booster doses available to all Americans beginning in September.
Phase-3 trial of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin commences in AIIMS
Besides, Covaxin, four other vaccines are under different phases of clinical trial in India with the Serum Institute of India conducting phase-three trial of the Oxford-Astrazeneca Covid-19 vaccine while the indigenously developed vaccine by Zydus Cadila has completed phase-two clinical trial in the country.
Covid passports seen as key to resuming international travel
A test program will begin with British Airways parent IAG SA this year before arriving on Apple Inc. devices in the first quarter of 2021 and Android from April, IATA said. Travelers will be able to share their status with border authorities or present a QR code for scanning.
“We need to have global rules and standards” on measures like rapid testing and vaccination so there can be a “step forward” for the industry, Pieter Elbers, the head of the Dutch arm of Air France-KLM, said in a Bloomberg TV interview Tuesday. The health advances “will definitely help to restore confidence in travel.”
MHA guidelines: Local restrictions like night curfew allowed; Prior consultation with Centre needed for any lockdown outside containment zones
The state and UT governments will take all necessary measures to promote COVID-19 appropriate behaviour and to ensure strict enforcement of wearing of face masks, hand hygiene and social distancing. In order to enforce the core requirement of wearing of face masks, authorities may consider administrative actions, including the imposition of appropriate fines, on persons not wearing face masks in public and workspaces.
UNICEF and IATA partner to deliver COVID-19 vaccines to over 92 countries
Since January, UNICEF has delivered more than US$190 million worth of COVID-19 supplies such as masks, gowns, oxygen concentrators and diagnostic test kits in support of countries as they respond to the pandemic.
World agonises over new COVID curbs as infections approach 60 million
an approved vaccine is unlikely to be widely available for months while scientists insist on the continued need for vigilance and politicians consider curbs for Christmas amid a second wave of the pandemic.
COVID-19 pandemic could be stopped if at least 70% public wore face masks consistently: Study
“The highly efficacious facemask, such as surgical masks with an estimated efficacy of around 70 per cent, could lead to the eradication of the pandemic if at least 70 per cent of the residents use such masks in public consistently,” the scientists, including Sanjay Kumar from the National University of Singapore, wrote in the study
Adults, children must move more to stay fit in pandemic era – WHO
And people of all ages must compensate for growing sedentary behaviour with physical activity to ward off disease and add years to their lives, the WHO said, launching its “Every Move Counts” campaign.
“Increasing physical activity not only helps prevent and manage heart disease, type-2 diabetes and cancer, it also reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety, reduces cognitive decline including Alzheimer’s and improves memory,” Ruediger Krech, WHO director for health promotion, told a news briefing.
No benefit seen from plasma treatment in severe COVID-19; virus may hurt male fertility
“The possibility that COVID-19 damages the testes and impacts fertility … warrants gonadal function evaluation in men infected with COVID-19, or who have recovered from COVID-19, and desire fertility,” the Miami team concluded in a report published in the World Journal of Men’s Health.
Global coronavirus cases surpass 60 million infections
An analysis of the Reuters data showed the rate of new infections picking up globally. It took just 17 days to go from 50 million cases to 60 million, compared with the 21 days it took to go from 40 million to 50 million. Around 580,000 cases have been reported each day over the past week and around half of all cases since the start of the pandemic were reported over the past 70 days.
In Europe, 1 million new cases were recorded over just five days, for a total of more than 16 million cases, including 365,000 deaths.
Sebi eases surveillance steps implemented to curb Covid-induced volatility
The surveillance measures, announced in March, are in force till November 26. They are aimed at ensuring orderly trading and settlement, effective risk management, price discovery and maintenance of market integrity.
Among the measures, the watchdog had increased the margin requirement for non-F&O stocks in cash market and revised Market Wide Position Limit (MWPL) from 95 per cent to 50 per cent of existing levels in a phased manner.
On Wednesday, Sebi said these two measures would be relaxed with effect from close of business on November 26.