iNNCOVACC is the world's first intranasal Covid-19 vaccine to receive approval for the primary 2-dose schedule, and as a heterologous booster dose. It is developed by Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) in collaboration with the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a PSU under the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology.
Expressing his elation at the event, Mandaviya said that over 65 percent of vaccines supplied in the world are from India.
Congratulating the BBIL team and the Department of Biotech for bringing about the world's first nasal vaccine, he stated that "being the world's first intra-nasal Covid-19 vaccine, this marks a glorious tribute to the call for Atmanirbhar Bharat."
The Union Health Minister added that India's vaccine manufacturing and innovation capability is appreciated all over the world as it has made a mark in producing quality and affordable medicines.
Congratulating BBIL for innovating another vaccine in collaboration with BIRAC, Jitendra Singh said that "India has taken a lead in developing vaccines and medicines for diseases common in the developing world."
He also stated that ZyCoV-D, the world's first and India's indigenously developed DNA-based vaccine for Covid-19 to be administered in humans including children and adults 12 years and above, was also developed in partnership with the Department of Biotechnology in the Ministry of Science & Technology under 'Mission Covid Suraksha' through BIRAC.
iNCOVACC is a cost-effective Covid-19 vaccine which does not require syringes, needles, alcohol wipes, bandage, etc, saving costs related to procurement, distribution, storage, and biomedical waste disposal, that is routinely required for injectable vaccines.
It utilises a vector-based platform, which can be easily updated with emerging variants leading to large-scale production, within a few months. These rapid response timelines combined with the ability of cost-effective and easy intranasal delivery make it an ideal vaccine to address future infectious diseases.
A rollout of iNCOVACC is expected to begin in private hospitals that have placed advance orders. An initial manufacturing capacity of several million doses per annum has been established, this can be scaled up to a billion doses as required. iNCOVACC is priced at Rs 325 per dose for large-volume procurement by State Governments and the Government of India.
The State Health department has asked people not to miss the chance of getting vaccinated in case they are due. The department has advised people to get booster dose as precaution as covid-19 threat continues to lurk.
Odisha Health Director Bijay Mohapatra said, “As per the decision, Covishield vaccines are reaching Odisha today. With the vaccination drive beginning from January 19, I would like to request people, who are yet to receive the second or booster dose, to get vaccinated.”
As per the Odisha Health & Family Welfare department, the vaccination drive will be undertaken for those who have not received their second or precaution dose. Moreover, the drive will be for Covishield vaccine only.
The vaccination drive will be carried out at specific Primary Health Centres (PHCs), Community Health Centres (CHCs) and District Headquarters Hospitals (DHHs) across Odisha.
On Monday, the State Health and Family Welfare Department took to Twitter and wrote: “Under the National COVID19 vaccination programme, Covishield will be available from 19th Jan 2023 in identified DHH, SDH,CHC & PHC across Odisha for beneficiaries whose 2nd dose as well as precaution dose are due. Citizens are requested to take this opportunity to get vaccinated & stay safe from COVID19.”
Reported by Harihar Chand, OTV
The scientific study has proved the immunity benefits of the indigenous heterologous vaccine booster, Corbevax in combating Omicron variants.
The study titled "Heterologous booster dose with Corbevax following primary vaccination with Covishield enhances protection against SARS-CoV-2" has been published in the high-impact factor journal "Vaccines".
Announcing the findings of the study, AIG Hospitals Chairman Dr D Nageshwar Reddy told media persons that the study was done on 250 healthcare workers who had received 2 doses of Covishield as the primary vaccine regimen not more than 6 months ago. None of the participants had any adverse events following the administration of Corbevax booster dose.
"We knew from our previous studies that mixed vaccines produce better immune response; therefore, when the government approved Corbevax to be given as a heterologous booster to individuals already vaccinated with Covishield, our aim was to determine how a different vaccine platform (protein-based) will impact the immune response especially in context of the Omicron variant," he said.
Corbevax is an indigenously developed peptide-based vaccine that is different from the viral vector (Covishield) or the inactivated vaccine (Covaxin). The key difference is that Corbevax uses only a protein subunit of the virus replicated inside a yeast cell while the others are whole virus vaccines. The advantage of peptide-based vaccine is that it considerably reduces the risks of allergic and autoimmune responses making them safe for widespread usage.
Dr Reddy said the results further cemented their belief that mixed vaccines are absolutely safe. "The second aspect of the study was to measure the antibody response as well as the T-cell (memory cell) response at 30 days and then at 90 days to correctly estimate the overall protection against the circulating Omicron variant.
When estimating the effectiveness of a vaccine, both the antibody response and T-cell (Memory cell) response are essential.
"In our study, we compared the immune responses among those individuals who were given the same vaccine, i.e., Covishield (homologous group) as a booster and those who were given Corbevax as a booster (heterologous group). The S1/S2-spike protein IgG antibody levels and T/B Cell response of these groups were compared at 30 days and at 90 days. While the homologous and heterologous groups showed increased S1/S2-spike protein IgG antibody level at 30 days, the heterologous group (Corbevax as a booster) showed higher levels of antibodies at both 30 days and 90 days," Dr Reddy said.
The study was undertaken when Omicron variants are circulating in India; therefore, it would be appropriate to say that heterologous booster (Corbevax) would be effective in combating any wave that is fueled by sub-variants of the Omicron.
High-risk group people should consider taking the booster dose and continue to take Covid appropriate precautions all the time especially when in public spaces.
Replying to queries, Dr Reddy said if a person has taken Covaxin double dose, he should also take Corbevax as the booster dose. "The booster dose should be from the other company as this gives more protection," he said.
He noted that only 28 per cent of people in the country have taken booster dose. Corbevax is manufactured by Hyderabad-based Biological E.
Dr Reddy said that the vaccine is easy to manufacture and it is already available in the market at a price of Rs 250.
He suggested that China should also import Corbevax to save lives.
Dr Reddy also made it clear that there is no need for panic as the both the central and state governments are taking necessary measures and adequate stocks of vaccines and Remdesivir are available.
He believes that the number of Covid cases may increase over the next two months but from March next year, the situation will be normal.
He said people should wear masks while going in crowded places. He believes that the impact of the new variant of Omicron will not be severe.
Mandaviya said this while responding to queries of some Opposition MPs after his suo moto statement in Rajya Sabha on the latest COVID-19 situation and India's preparedness.
In the wake of a surge in COVID-19 cases in many countries, India has started 2 per cent random sampling of international travellers coming to the country and may consider making it mandatory for all if necessary, Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said today.
"We are constantly monitoring the situation. There are no direct flights between China and India but people come via other routes," PTI reported him saying in response to a query by Raghav Chadha of AAP on whether the government would ban direct flights from China.
Mandaviya said he has spoken to many countries and WHO about what all precautions are needed to be taken and also understand in which direction the pandemic is moving.
Mandaviya also said the focus of the government is to ensure that no unknown variant of the virus enters India and at the same time there is now impediment on travelling.
The minister assured the Upper House that all the oxygen plants are running and a review has also been done about the availability of medicines.
"We are prepared and ready to provide the requirement of medicines and vaccines in the country," he said.
He further said states have also been advised to focus on heightened surveillance within the community and to undertake requisite control and containment measures, increase the whole genome sequencing of all positive cases for timely detection of newer variants, if any.
(With agency inputs)
The special 75-day campaign for administering free precaution doses will end in less than two weeks on September 30.
Government data revealed that there are many states like Haryana and Jharkhand where only 10 % of the eligible population has been covered for the precaution doses. As per the government data (As on September 16), states like Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and many others recorded less than the national average of 24 per cent of precaution dose coverage. States including Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka recorded precaution dose coverage of 13 per cent, 13 per cent, 15 per cent, 17 per cent and 19 per cent of their eligible population respectively.
On the other hand states like Bihar, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and a few others have performed better than the national average. States like Bihar, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha recorded 26 per cent, 37 per cent, 39 per cent, 30 per cent and 38 per cent coverage respectively of their eligible population.
Eligible populations are the persons who have completed 6 months from the date of administration of the 2nd dose.
As per the government data, 19.14 crore people have been covered as of September 16 out of the total eligible population of 78.44 crore in the country.
The Covid-19 precaution dose administration for age group 18-59 years also started from 10th April, 2022.
Thereafter, the 'Covid Vaccine Amrit Mahotsav' campaign was launched on July 15, 2022 to give an impetus to precaution dose as part of the national Covid vaccination drive. Under the campaign, free precaution doses at all government Covid vaccination centres for persons aged 18 years and above for 75 days (from July 15 to September 30, 2022) are being provided.
Being implemented in a "Mission Mode' this special Covid vaccination drive is a part of the celebration for Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. The special drive is aimed to increase uptake for the precaution dose among the eligible adult population.
Earlier, States/UTs were urged to implement 'Covid Vaccination Amrit Mahotsava' for 75 days as 'Jan Abhiyaan' with huge mass mobilization, through a camp approach. They were advised to organise special vaccination camps on the routes of Char Dham Yatra (Uttarakhand), Amarnath Yatra (Jammu & Kashmir), Kanwar Yatra (all States/UTs of North India) as well as major melas and congregations.
States/UTs were advised to operationalise special workplace vaccination camps at big office complexes (public & private), industrial establishments, railway stations, inter-state bus stations, in schools and colleges etc.
Besides, States/UTs were also advised to do wide advance publicity of this initiative in print, electronic, social and mass media. State health authorities were urged to undertake a regular weekly review of the progress at the state level.
As per the Ministry of Health, States/UTs were advised to ensure that the available Covid vaccine doses are consumed in a timely manner and no dose expires in both government and private facilities. States were requested to assess the requirement for the 75-day special drive as per the eligible population groups and inform the Centre. It was to enable the Union Ministry of Health to provide adequate doses to the States/UTs that need them. The principle of First Expiry, First Out shall continue to guide the Covid vaccination.
This is for the first time that a booster dose that is different from the one used for primary vaccination against Covid has been allowed in the country.
The sources told PTI that the Union Health Ministry's approval is based on the recommendations made recently by the COVID-19 Working Group of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI).
"Corbevax will be considered as a precaution dose after completion of six months or 26 weeks from the date of administration of the second dose of either Covaxin or Covishield vaccines for those aged above 18 years enabling use of Corbevax as a heterologous COVID-19 vaccine for precaution dose administration in this age group," the sources said.
This will be in addition to the existing guidelines for homologous precaution dose administration of Covaxin and Covishield vaccine, the sources added.
All necessary changes in regard to the administration of precaution dose of Corbevax vaccine are being made on the Co-WIN portal.
India's first indigenously developed RBD protein subunit vaccine Corbevax is currently being used to inoculate children in the age group of 12 to 14 years under the COVID-19 immunisation programme.
The COVID-19 Working Group (CWG), in its July 20 meeting, reviewed data of the double-blind randomised phase-3 clinical study which evaluated the immunogenicity and safety of booster dose of Corbevax vaccine when administered to COVID-19-negative adult volunteers of age 18-80 years previously vaccinated with two doses of either Covishield or Covaxin. `
"Following the examination of the data, the CWG observed that Corbevax vaccine can induce a significant increase in antibody titers when given to those who have received either Covaxin or Covishield, which is likely to be protective as per the neutralisation data also," the sources said.
The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on June 4 approved Corbevax as a precaution dose for those aged 18 and above.
India began administering precaution doses of vaccines to healthcare and frontline workers and those aged 60 and above with comorbidities from January 10.
The country began inoculating children aged 12-14 from March 16 and also removed the comorbidity clause making all people aged above 60 eligible for the precaution dose of Covid vaccine.
India on April 10 began administering precaution doses of COVID-19 vaccines to all aged above 18 years.
The teacher in dock Madhav Roul allegedly beat up five students of Nuagada primary school moments after they returned from toilet.
As per reports, Roul is deployed at another school and was deputed to Nuagada primary school for a day after the teacher of the concerned school had some work in bank.
The students alleged that teacher Madhav Roul was dozing inside the classroom.
“We had sought permission from the teacher to go to the toilet and he had allowed us. But when we returned, he started beating us with a cane,” alleged a standard five student.
On getting information about the incident, the Block Education Officer (BEO) visited the school for an inquiry. Though the teacher assured the BEO not to repeat the mistake, the guardians demanded action against him. The BEO informed that the matter has been resolved after seeking an undertaking from the teacher.
The estimates based on excess deaths from 185 countries and territories showed that globally 19.8 million out of a potential 31.4 million Covid-19 fatalities were prevented in the first year of the vaccination programme.
A further 599,300 lives could have been saved if the World Health Organization's target of vaccinating 40 per cent of the population in each country with two or more doses by the end of 2021 had been met.
"Our findings show that millions of lives have likely been saved by making vaccines available to people everywhere, regardless of their wealth. However, more could have been done. If the targets set out by the WHO had been achieved, we estimate that roughly 1 in 5 of the estimated lives lost due to Covid-19 in low-income countries could have been prevented," said lead author Dr Oliver Watson, from Imperial College London.
Since the first Covid-19 vaccine was administered outside of a clinical trial setting on December 8, 2020, almost two thirds of the world's population has received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine (66 per cent).
Despite the incredible speed of the vaccine roll-out worldwide, more than 3.5 million Covid deaths have been reported.
However, the team found that, based on officially recorded Covid deaths, an estimated 18.1 million deaths would have occurred during the study period if vaccinations had not been implemented.
The Covid-19 Vaccine Access initiative (COVAX) has facilitated access to affordable vaccines for lower income countries to try to reduce inequalities, with an initial target of giving two vaccine doses to 20 per cent of the population in countries covered by the commitment by the end of 2021.
The WHO expanded this target by setting a global strategy to fully vaccinate 70 per cent of the world's population by mid-2022, with an interim target of vaccinating 40 per cent of the population of all countries by the end of 2021.
"Ensuring fair access to vaccines is crucial, but requires more than just donating vaccines. Improvements in vaccine distribution and infrastructure, as well as coordinated efforts to combat vaccine misinformation and improve vaccine demand, are needed. Only then can we ensure that everyone has the opportunity to benefit from these life-saving technologies," said Prof Azra Ghani, Chair in Infectious Disease Epidemiology at Imperial.
The move will increase protection for these vulnerable groups against severe disease from Covid-19, Xinhua news agency quoted the CDC as saying.
The CDC's move came right after the US Food and Drug Administration authorised a second booster dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or the Moderna Covid-19 vaccines for these people earlier on Tuesday.
In addition, the CDC said adults who received a primary vaccine and booster dose of Johnson & Johnson's Janssen Covid-19 vaccine at least 4 months ago may now receive a second booster dose using an mRNA Covid-19 vaccine.
During the recent Omicron surge, those who were boosted were 21 times less likely to die from Covid-19 compared to those who were unvaccinated, and 7 times less likely to be hospitalised, according to the CDC.
Asserting that India's Covid vaccination drive is science-driven and people-powered, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the country is in a much better position to fight this deadly pandemic but people must keep following all precautions.
Modi noted that today is an important day in India's efforts to vaccinate its citizens as now onwards, youngsters in the 12-14 age group were eligible for vaccines and all those above 60 were eligible for precaution doses.
"I urge people in these age groups to get vaccinated," he said in a series of tweets.
Modi asserted that India's vaccination drive, which is the largest in the world, is science-driven.
Highlighting the journey of India's vaccination drive, Modi said, "We began work to create vaccines in early 2020, to protect our citizens and strengthen our fight against the pandemic."
"The manner in which our scientists, innovators and the private sector rose to the occasion is commendable. In late 2020, I had visited three of our vaccine manufacturers and got firsthand details of their efforts to protect our citizens," he said.
In January 2021, India began its vaccination drive for doctors, healthcare and frontline workers, he noted.
The aim was to ensure those at the forefront of the fight against Covid get proper protection at the earliest, he said.
In March 2021, vaccination was opened to those above 60 and those over 45 with comorbidities, he pointed out. Later, the vaccination opened for all those above 18, he said.
Modi said it should make every Indian proud that the vaccines are free of cost for those who want it.
"Today, India has administered over 180 crore doses, which includes over 9 crore doses in age group of 15-17 and over 2 crore precaution doses. This forms an important protective shield for our citizens against COVID-19," he said in another tweet.
Over the last year, India's vaccination drive has been people-powered, he said.
Unlike other nations where we are witnessing a lot of vaccine hesitancy, people here have not only taken their doses but also urged others to get vaccinated as soon as possible, the prime minister said, adding that this is "heartening to see".
"I would like to appreciate our state governments for their support towards India's vaccination drive. Several states, especially the hill states and those where tourism is important, have achieved near total vaccination coverage and several big states have also done well," he said.
Modi asserted that India's vaccination efforts have made the global fight against COVID-19 stronger.
"In line with India's ethos of caring for the entire planet, we sent vaccines to several nations under the Vaccine Maitri programme. I am glad that India's vaccination efforts have made the global fight against COVID-19 stronger," he said.
He pointed out that India has many Made in India' vaccines, and the government has also granted approval to other vaccines after a due process of evaluation.
"We are in a much better position to fight this deadly pandemic. At the same time, we have to keep following all COVID related precautions," Modi said.
"It would be a grave mistake to think the pandemic is over. The distribution of vaccines remains scandalously unequal," said the UN chief, adding that manufacturers are producing 1.5 billion doses per month, but nearly 3 billion people are still waiting for their first shot, Xinhua news agency reported.
"This failure is the direct result of policy and budgetary decisions that prioritize the health of people in wealthy countries over the health of people in poor countries," said the secretary-general.
"This is a moral indictment of our world," the top UN official said.
"It is also a recipe for more variants, more lockdowns and more sorrow and sacrifice in every country. Our world cannot afford a two-tier recovery from Covid-19. Despite the numerous other global crises, we must reach our goal of vaccinating 70 percent of people in all countries by the middle of this year," the secretary-general spelled out.
Guterres underscored that governments and pharmaceutical companies need to work together to multiply the number of countries able to produce tests, vaccines and treatments by sharing licenses and intellectual property and providing the necessary technological and financial support.
"At the same time, we need strong national vaccine-delivery systems at the ready -- including efforts to counter disinformation and get vaccines into arms. Science and solidarity have proven to be an unbeatable combination," added Guterres.
"We must re-dedicate ourselves to ending this pandemic for all people and all countries, and closing this sad chapter in humanity's history, once and for all," the UN chief stressed.
Guterres recalled that two years ago, the lives of people around the globe were upended by a virus and Covid-19 spread quickly and relentlessly into every corner of the world -- shutting down economies, choking off transportation networks and supply chains, closing schools, separating people from their loved ones and plunging millions of people into poverty.
He said that the pandemic's most tragic toll has been on the health and lives of millions, with more than 446 million cases worldwide, more than 6 million deaths confirmed, and countless more grappling with worsening mental health.
"Thanks to unprecedented public health measures, and the extraordinarily rapid development and deployment of vaccines, many parts of the world are bringing the pandemic under control," he said.
Meanwhile, the active Covid cases have further reduced to 77,152 which constitute 0.18 per cent of the country's total positive cases, as per the ministry report.
The recovery of 14,947 patients in the last 24 hours has increased the cumulative tally to 4,23,53,620. Consequently, India's recovery rate stands at 98.62 per cent, said the Union Health Ministry.
Also in the same period, a total of 8,82,953 tests were conducted across the country. India has so far conducted over 77 crore cumulative tests.
Meanwhile, the weekly positivity rate has come down to 0.99 per cent while daily positivity rate stands at 0.74 per cent.
With the administration of over 21 lakh Covid vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, India's Covid inoculation coverage has reached 178 crore as of Wednesday morning. This has been achieved through 2,05,41,983 sessions.
More than 15.19 crore balance and unutilised Covid vaccine doses are still available with the states and union territories to be administered, according to the health ministry as of Thursday morning.
Citing people familiar with the matter, the report claimed that the health regulatory body has begun reviewing data that could lead to clearing a second booster dose of the Pfizer, Moderna vaccines by September.
However, the planning is still in early stages. The authorisation will also depend on ongoing studies establishing that a fourth dose would increase people's molecular defenses that waned after their first booster and reduce their risk of symptomatic and severe disease, the report said.
The FDA did not comment on the matter.
But, the agency last month cut short the duration to get a booster dose of Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer and BioNTech as well as from Moderna, in a bid to provide better protection sooner against the Omicron variant.
Israel became the first country, in late December last year, to begin the rollout of a second booster dose to people over-60s, healthcare workers and those with weakened immune systems.
The US has already approved the fourth dose for immunocompromised people, such as those living with HIV or certain transplant recipients. Other countries that have approved the fourth shot include the UK, Chile.
Israel is now considering the fourth dose for all adults, above the age of 18, in the wake of a surge in infections driven by the Omicron variant.
South Korea became the latest country, last week, to begin administering the fourth shots of Covid vaccines for people at high risk. However, the country's health regulators do not have plans to expand the fourth dose to all adults.
Sweden's Health Agency also, last week, recommended people aged 80 or above should receive a fourth jab to ward off waning immunity amid the rampant spread of the Omicron variant.
Several European countries including Hungary and Denmark have also considered rolling out the second booster dose in the wake of the vaccine evading the Omicron variant.
On Sunday, India reported below 50,000 Covid cases after 40 days.
However, the death toll among people with comorbidities continues to rise in the country.
Dr Amitav Banerjee, Prof & Head of Community Medicines at D Y Patil Medical College Pune, says that the body needs adequate amounts of Vitamin D to maintain and support the immune system against Covid-19.
"Your body needs adequate amounts of Vitamin D to maintain and support the immune system. Studies have shown how Vitamin D deficiencies can reduce vaccine efficacy and also increase the severity of Covid infection in individuals."
Lifestyle changes do not only consist of diet and exercise but stepping outdoors for getting your mandatory dose of Vitamin D is also an important component of a healthy lifestyle, he added further while speaking on the importance of lifestyle in the prevention of diseases during Health4All Episode.
"We have found that young adults are about 4 times more likely to have Vitamin D deficiencies as compared to older adults due to the cultural and social changes that have taken over in the past few decades. Vitamin D deficiency is directly associated with the exposure of skin to the sun. We see even the traffic police are found Vitamin D deficient despite having good exposure to sunlight. They spend reasonably good time in the sunlight but their skin and face are covered and not exposed to the sunlight," added Dr Banerjee.
Dr Sujeet Kumar Singh, Director, National Center for Disease Control (NCDC), had also said recently that around 64 per cent deaths in Delhi are from the unvaccinated group with a major comorbid population.
While speaking at comorbidities and safety measures in Covid times, Dr Vikas Oswal, Managing Director, GIVA Foundation said, "Tuberculosis is one of the underlying respiratory problems that need special focus like we are paying to protect us from Covid. If the immune system is strong and TB bacteria enters your body it doesn't affect you much."
The team comprises scientists from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Berhampur and Kazi Nazrul University, Asansol.
As per reports published in national portals, their research has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Molecular Liquids that is devoted to fundamental aspects of structure, interactions and dynamic processes in simple, molecular and complex liquids.
One of the researchers said the vaccine has been developed using computational methods and was found to be highly stable, antigenic and immunogenic. The next stage would involve the production of the vaccine which would be followed by testing.
The big claim made is no other vaccine in the world has been designed so far to cope with all the Coronaviridae family viruses at a single time.
The trials would evaluate the safety, tolerability and immunogenicity of the vaccine candidate, according to a joint statement by the companies on Tuesday. The study would involve up to 1,420 participants.
"This study is part of our science-based approach to develop a variant-based vaccine that achieves a similar level of protection against Omicron as it did with earlier variants but with longer duration of protection," said Ugur Sahin, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of BioNTech.
The first group of participants, around 600 volunteers, have already received two doses of the BioNTech or Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine between 90 and 180 days before the start of the study. They would receive one or two doses of the new Omicron-based vaccine, according to the statement.
The second group, almost as large, would include individuals who have already received three vaccine doses and who would then receive one dose of the BioNTech or Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine or the Omicron-based vaccine, Xinhua news agency reported.
The third group would include around 200 unvaccinated people, who have not previously had Covid-19. People in this group would receive three doses of the new Omicron-based vaccine, according to the statement.
"Staying vigilant against the virus requires us to identify new approaches for people to maintain a high level of protection, and we believe developing and investigating variant-based vaccines, like this one, are essential in our efforts towards this goal," said Kathrin Jansen, Pfizer's senior Vice-President.
According to health ministry officials, over 92 per cent of the adult population have received at least one dose while over 68 per cent have been fully vaccinated.
The Centre will issue a postal stamp on Sunday afternoon to mark the completion of one year of the inoculation drive.
The drive was rolled out on January 16 last year with healthcare workers getting inoculated in the first phase. Vaccination of frontline workers started on February 2.
The next phase of the COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.
Vaccination of all people aged over 45 from April 1. The government then decided to expand the ambit of the inoculation drive by allowing everyone above 18 to be vaccinated from May 1.
The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from January 3 this year for adolescents in the age group of 15-18 years.
India started administering the precaution dose of the Covid vaccine to healthcare and frontline workers, which include polling personnel deployed in the five poll-bound states, and comorbid people aged 60 and above from January 10 in a bid to stymie the coronavirus spread driven by its Omicron variant.
The health ministry has claimed that India's vaccination programme has been one of the most successful and largest inoculation programmes when compared to many developed western nations with a significantly low population base to vaccinate.
In the vaccination drive, the country has achieved several milestones, which have no precedent in the world, including administering over 100 crore doses in less than nine months, administering 2.51 crore doses in a single day and several times administering one crore doses in a day, it said.
Covid vaccine doses administered in the country surpassed the 100-crore mark on October 21 last year. The cumulative vaccine doses administered in the country surpassed the 150-crore mark on January 7.
With the administration of more than 66 lakh vaccine doses in a day, India's COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 156.76 crores, according to provisional reports till 7 am on Sunday.
More than 43.19 lakh precaution doses of the vaccine have been administered. Also, 3,38,50,912 first doses have been given to beneficiaries in the 15-18 years age group.
WHO's Technical Advisory Group on Covid-19 Vaccine Composition (TAG-CO-VAC), a group of 18 experts, on Tuesday said that although current vaccines provide a high level of protection against severe disease and death caused by Variants Of Concern (VOC), future vaccines that can prevent infection and transmission need to be developed.
In the meantime, the composition of current Covid-19 vaccines may need to be updated in order to protect against the evolution of the virus, Xinhua news agency reported.
Such updates need to be based on strains that are genetically and antigenically close to the circulating variants. They should also elicit "broad, strong, and long-lasting" responses in order to "reduce the need for successive booster doses," WHO added.
The experts have encouraged Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers to provide data on the performance of current and Omicron-specific vaccines, to help decide when changes to vaccine composition may be required.
Regarding the current Omicron variant, the experts emphasised the importance of wider global access to current Covid-19 vaccines.
With the administration of more than 90 lakh (90,59,360) vaccine doses in the past 24 hours, the cumulative number in the country has exceeded 150.61 crore (150,61,92,903), according to provisional reports updated till 7 am.
"Great Going, my Young Friends. Over 2 crore youngsters between the 15-18 age group have received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine in less than a week of vaccination drive for children," Mandaviya tweeted.
According to health ministry officials, over 91 per cent of the adult population of the country has received at least one dose of he vaccine while more than 66 per cent have been vaccinated with both the doses.
The approval was sought by the vaccine manufacturer last week.
The SEC has asked the company to submit the protocol for booster study.
On Tuesday, the Committee held a meeting to discuss the vaccine manufacturer Bharat Biotech's application for clinical trials of its intranasal Covid vaccine as a booster.
The Hyderabad-based manufacturer had proposed the booster dose for those who have been already been innoculated with Covishield and Covaxin vaccines.
According to a source, Bharat Biotech aims to conduct clinical trials on 5,000 healthy subjects: half or 2,500 individuals who have received Covishield and another 2,500 who have been administered Covaxin.
There will be a gap of around six months between the second and the intranasal booster dose. The source said that the nasal booster vaccine is likely to be launched in India by March following clinical trials.
In his address to the nation on December 25, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured that soon the country will develop a nasal vaccine.
The beneficiaries have taken the first dose of vaccine at 939 dedicated vaccination centres set up across the state, Health Department officials said.
Only Covaxin vaccine has been given to those who are in the 15-18 age group.
A total of 23.65 lakh children in Odisha are eligible for vaccination against Covid-19, they said.
Speaking to reports earlier on Monday, health and family welfare director, Bijay Panigrahi said individuals in the 15-18 age group, who have not registered themselves online on CoWIN portal for the vaccination, have also been allowed to get the jab by doing on-spot registration at the centre.
As there are possibilities that some teenagers may have fever like minor AEFI, the state government has decided not to vaccinate the children, who are having examinations now. They will be vaccinated after completion of the tests, said Panigrahi.
Worth mentioning, the Union Health Ministry has earlier said that those who were born on or before January 1, 2007 will be eligible for the Covid-19 vaccination process.
Speaking to media on Friday, Additional District Urban Public Health Officer (ADU-PHO) Antaryami Mishra said, “We hope that the number of children between 15 and 18 years age group will be around 1 lakh in the Capital City. However, after the School and Mass Education Department provided the exact details on the number of children to be vaccinated, we will decide whether the vaccination drive will be conducted in schools or in dedicated session sites.”
He said at present, Bhubaneswar has 35 session sites while the number of vaccination centres will be increased if the need arises. Besides, precaution doses will be administered to healthcare and frontline workers and people above 60 years with co-morbidities or other health problems from January 10, 2022. The officials who will be engaged in the upcoming Panchayat elections will also be given booster doses, added Mishra.
Asked about the criteria to get the precautionary or booster doses, Mishra said that a person is eligible to get the dose if the gap between the second dose of Covid vaccine and the registration date for the booster is more than 9 months (39 weeks). “The beneficiary will have to produce the second dose certificated and Aadhaar Card to get inoculated,” said Mishra.
Meanwhile, BMC Commissioner Sanjay Singh said that the municipal corporation is fully prepared to start administering vaccines to children as well as precautionary doses to healthcare and frontline workers and people above 60 years with co-morbidities.
A meeting to review the preparedness of the BMC for the upcoming inoculation drive was held under the chairmanship of Singh on Thursday.
Further noting that Covid-19 cases have been surging worldwide, the BMC Commissioner said, “As per the advisory issued by the State Government, we have increased enforcement activities to curb gathering of crowd in various parts of Bhubaneswar. For this, additional forces from BMC, Commissionerate Police and Excise Department have been engaged which will ensure that people do not gather to celebrate New Year till January 2. Stern action will be taken against those found flouting Covid protocols,” added Singh.
Briefing the media on the strategy to be adopted inoculate the children in the State in a smooth manner, Panigrahi said, “The online registration for vaccine shots for teens between 15 and 18 age group will begin from January 1, 2022, while the vaccination will start from January 3 next year.”
Panigrahi stated that the district administrations have been directed to open dedicated Covid-19 session sites depending on the population between 15 and 18 years in their respective areas.
“In the existing session sites, children in the age group between 15 and 18 will be vaccination in the morning hours while the people from other categories will be administered vaccines in the evening hours,” said the State Health and Family Welfare Director.
The children can visit the allotted vaccination centres on the scheduled date and then, they have to complete the onsite registration process following which they will be inoculated, added Panigrahi.
“We currently have a stock of 14 lakh doses of Covaxin in the State. As per the data provided by the Centre, a total of 23.65 lakh children aged 15 to 18 are eligible to receive the vaccine in the State. We have set a target to inoculate all the children within one month. Therefore, we will carry out vaccination drives in schools and colleges, if needed,” he added.
On being asked regarding the administration of precaution doses for healthcare and frontline workers and people above 60 years with co-morbidities or other health problems scheduled to begin from January 10 next year, Panigrahi said, “We have not been clarified which booster will be administered to the health care and frontline workers and people above 60 years with co-morbidities. We hope a clarification regarding the shot will come before it.”
At present, the State has 7.05 lakh healthcare and frontline workers and around 10.47 lakh people above 60 years with co-morbidities, said the top health official.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced three major decisions on December 25 which include vaccination of children between 15-18 years age group, precaution dose vaccination of healthcare and frontline workers and precaution dose vaccination of citizens of 60 years or above. In our State, there are 25, 53,000 beneficiaries under the 15-18 age group. Their vaccination will start from January 3,” informed Odisha Health and Family Welfare Director Dr Bijay Panigrahi.
About the precautionary vaccination of citizens of 60 or above, he said there are 52,37,000 eligible beneficiaries in the State. Of them, those with comorbidities have to bring a certificate from their doctors to get doses.
Underlying the importance of administration of vaccines to beneficiaries coming under 15-18 age group, Covid Task Force chief Dr N K Arora said that children between 15-18 age group are at risk of infection just like adults. Evidence within country says that nearly two-third of Covid-19 deaths have occurred in the age group. The adolescents need to be protected.
“There are two other advantages of immunizing adolescents. The second point is since they are quite mobile. They are to go schools and colleges. Therefore they are risk of getting infection, particularly in the light of Omicron. The immunization will provide them some protection. The third point is many time these adolescents get infection and in turn they can infect their elderly family members and those who have comorbidities,” Arora added.
As a precautionary measure, the government has also decided that precaution dose of vaccine will be started for frontline workers and healthcare workers with an effort to strengthen the ongoing pandemic battle. PM Modi said that citizens above 60 years of age with co-morbidities will also have the option of the Precaution Dose of the vaccine on the recommendation of their doctors. This will also be available from January 10, 2022 onwards.
The Prime Minister further announced that India will soon get a nasal vaccine and the world's first DNA vaccine. He said that India has relentlessly worked to keep citizens safe and all the decisions taken are based on the suggestions by country’s top scientists.
According to a phase 3 randomised controlled trial, published in The Lancet, Ad5-nCoV is safe, with no serious vaccine-related adverse events or deaths reported among trial participants, and that the vaccine induces a robust antibody response.
"Our study suggests that one dose of Ad5-nCoV is highly effective against severe disease -- potentially helping to ease the tremendous strain Covid-19 has put on health systems around the world by keeping people from becoming seriously ill or requiring hospitalisation," said lead author Scott Halperin from the Dalhousie University in Canada.
Developed by CanSino Biologics, Inc. and the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology, Ad5-nCoV is a single-dose viral vector vaccine that can be stored between 2 degrees Celsius and 8 degrees Celsius.
The vaccine has been approved for emergency use in 10 countries, including Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Pakistan, where this current clinical trial took place. Regulatory review is in progress in Russia, which also participated in this clinical trial.
The trial, which is still ongoing, commenced on September 22, 2020, and, by January 15, 2021, had enrolled 36,982 adults 18 years of age and older, of which 36,727 were randomised to receive either a vaccine or placebo injection across 66 enrolment sites at study centres in Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Pakistan and Russia.
The researchers conducted an efficacy analysis once the protocol threshold of 150 laboratory-confirmed (RT-PCR positive) symptomatic Covid-19 at 28 days post-injection was reached on January 15, 2021, at which point there were 21,250 trial participants in the primary efficacy cohort.
The team reported 105 positive Covid-19 cases out of 10,590 participants in the placebo group and 45 positive Covid-19 cases out of 10,660 participants in the vaccine group, resulting in an efficacy of 57.5 per cent at 28 days post-vaccination.
Efficacy against the severe disease was 91.7 per cent at 28 days post-vaccination, where the severe disease was defined as a minimum of one of the clinical signs at rest indicative of severe systemic illness, respiratory failure, evidence of shock, significant acute renal, hepatic, or neurologic dysfunction, or admission to an ICU.
There were no Covid-19-related deaths among vaccine recipients.
As reported in phase 1 and 2 trials Ad5-nCoV was well tolerated and produced high levels of anti-RBD antibodies and neutralizing antibodies.
The majority of the adverse events, including pain at the injection site, headache drowsiness and generalised muscle aches were mild to moderate and occurred within seven days of injection. There were no reports of thrombosis or thrombocytopenia in any study participants.
"While there is no evidence to suggest that existing vaccines do not work on Omicron, some of the mutations reported on spike gene may decrease the efficacy of existing vaccines," he told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.
Responding to a question on whether the vaccines being administered in the country are effective to develop immunity against the Omicron variant, he informed the house that there is limited available data, and no peer-reviewed evidence, on vaccine efficacy or effectiveness to date for Omicron. However, vaccine protection is also by antibodies as well as by cellular immunity, which is expected to be relatively better preserved.
"Hence, vaccines are expected to still offer protection against severe disease and, vaccination with the available vaccines remains crucial," he emphasised.
The Union Health Ministry, in a statement on Tuesday morning, said that the number of cases of new Covid strain Omicron has crossed the 200 -mark in India. However, out of them them, 77 patients have recovered or migrated.
Meanwhile, it has asked all states and UTs to gear up against the Omicron variant as it is three times more transmissible than the Delta variant, and formulate a strategy that can ensure infection is contained at the local level itself before it spreads to other parts of the state.
"We are in the last lap of Covid-19 vaccination. Let us launch aggressive campaign to fully vaccinate the adult population by increasing the pace of vaccination and expanding the coverage", said Mandaviya.
The minister was interacting virtually with Health Secretaries and senior officials of the Health Department from Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Puducherry during the meeting he chaired to review the status of Covid-19 vaccination in these states/UTs and the progress under the 'Har Ghar Dastak' campaign.
These states and UTs have been reporting low vaccination coverage. While India's first dose coverage is at 82 per cent and second at 43 per cent, Puducherry (66 per cent, 39 per cent), Nagaland (49 per cent, 36 per cent), Meghalaya (57 per cent, 38 per cent) and Manipur (54 per cent, 36 per cent) lag behind in both doses.
Reiterating that vaccination is the most potent weapon against the pandemic, the Health Minister urged the states and UTs to innovatively rope in all stakeholders including NGOs, faith-based organisations, religious leaders, community influencers and other partners to motivate and mobilise all eligible population towards full vaccination.
"Let us ensure collectively that no eligible citizen is left without the 'Suraksha Kawachh' of Covid-19 vaccine in the country, and address issues of hesitancy, misinformation, superstition etc", said Mandaviya.
He reiterated that Prime Minister's mop-up strategies for strengthening the 'Har Ghar Dastak' campaign, including deploying 'Prachar Toli' in villages to ensure mobilisation and counselling of the eligible population along with awareness campaigns, followed by the 'Vaccination Toli' which would ensure that all eligible citizens are vaccinated with both the doses.
Dr Mandaviya exhorted the states to prepare detailed district-wise micro plans, deploy adequate number of teams and to regularly review the daily progress of the low performing districts. The states have been asked to make innovative short videos to address target groups for hesitancy, along with effective use of various social media platforms and traditional media.
While India's first dose coverage is at 82 per cent, barring Puducherry, coverage of other states remain below 60 per cent. Meghalaya with a target population over 20 lakh has 8 lakh people waiting to be given 1st dose and due beneficiaries for 2nd dose are over 2.5 lakh.
Similarly, Manipur has over 10 lakh people yet to get their first dose and over 3.7 lakh due for their second dose out of a target population of 23.4 lakhs. Nagaland with a target population of 14.7 lakhs has over 7.5 lakh first doses to be achieved and 1.2 lakh beneficiaries due for second dose. Puducherry with a population has 11.3 lakhs has 3.88 lakh people yet to get first dose and 1.91 lakh eligible but yet to receive 2nd dose.
A total of 51,59,931 vaccine doses have been administered under the mass vaccination drive in the last 24 hours, it said in a statement.
The country's vaccination coverage against the Covid-19 pandemic has exceeded 115.79 crore and stands at 1,15,79,69,274 as per provisional reports till 7 a.m.
More than 129 crore vaccine doses have been provided to the states and UTs so far through free of cost channel and direct state procurement categories.
Healthcare workers have got a total of 1,03,82,038 first dose of vaccines and 93,89,728 as the second dose.
The frontline workers have been administered a total of 1,83,75,620 vaccines as the first dose and 1,62,86,345 as the second dose, the ministry said.
Among the age group of 18-44 years, a total of 44,03,91,026 shots of the first dose and 18,67,51,559 jabs of the second dose have been administered so far.
A total of 18,01,84,542 vaccines as the first dose and 10,97,56,295 vaccines as the second dose have been administered to the age group of 45-59 years.
A total of 11,28,73,842 people above the age of 60 years have been administered the first dose of the vaccine. However, only 7,35,78,380 people in this age group have been administered both doses so far.
To administer the needle-free ZyCov-D vaccine, a disposable painless jet applicator costing Rs 93 is required for each dose, which would take the price to Rs 358 per dose.
The Ahmedabad-based pharma company earlier had proposed a price of Rs 1,900 for its three-dose regimen, a source had said.
"The company has brought down the price to Rs 358 for each dose which includes Rs 93, the cost of a disposable jet applicator, following repeated negotiations by the government.... A final decision in the matter is likely to be taken this week," a source in the know of developments told PTI.
The three doses are to be administered 28 days apart, with each dose comprising a shot in both arms.
The indigenously developed world's first DNA-based needle-free COVID-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D received emergency use authorisation from the drug regulator on August 20, making it the first vaccine to be administered to those aged 12 years and above.
Meanwhile, the government is still waiting for the recommendations from the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) for introducing ZyCoV-D in the inoculation drive for adults and children with co-morbities.
NTAGI will provide the protocol and framework for the introduction of this vaccine in the COVID-19 immunisation drive.
Official sources earlier had said that the pricing of ZyCoV-D would be different than Covaxin and Covishield as apart from being a three-dose vaccine, it requires a special pharma jet injector that has to be used for administering the vaccine.
That pharma jet injector can be used for administering around 20,000 doses.
"The jet applicator helps the vaccine fluid to penetrate the skin to enter cells of the recipient," the source said.
The government is currently procuring two other vaccines -- Covishield at Rs 205 per dose and Covaxin at Rs 215 per dose -- for the national COVID-19 immunisation programme.
Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik V are being given to only those above 18 years of age and unlike ZyCoV-D, these are two-dose regimens.
India achieved a major milestone in its vaccination programme against COVID-19 as the cumulative vaccine doses administered in the country surpassed the 100-crore mark on Thursday.
Speaking via video conferencing after inaugurating the Infosys Foundation Vishram Sadan at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) on the Jhajjar Campus of New Delhi AIIMS, Modi said, "This day of October 21, 2021, has been recorded in history. India has crossed the 100 crore vaccine doses mark sometime back."
"To combat the biggest pandemic in 100 years, the country now has a strong protective shield of 100 crore vaccine doses. This achievement belongs to India, every citizen of India," the prime minister said.
Modi also expressed gratitude to all the vaccine manufacturing companies of the country, workers engaged in vaccine transportation and health sector professionals engaged in administering the vaccines.
On the inauguration of the Vishram Sadan, Modi said the Infosys Foundation has constructed the building of Vishram Sadan, while the cost of land and electricity and water has been provided by AIIMS Jhajjar.
"I express my gratitude to AIIMS Management and Sudha Murthy ji's team for this service," he said.
India's corporate sector, private sector, and social organisations have continuously contributed in strengthening the health services of the country, the prime minister noted.
Private sector will have a key role in our efforts to have at least one medical college in every district, Modi said.
The 806-bed Vishram Sadan has been constructed by the Infosys Foundation as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative.
It is aimed at providing air-conditioned accommodation to the attendants of cancer patients, who often have to stay in hospitals for a long duration, the PMO had said in a statement.
Built at the cost of about Rs 93 crore, it is located in close proximity to the hospital and OPD Blocks of the NCI.
Union Health & Family Welfare Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, and Infosys Foundation Chairperson Sudha Murthy attended the inauguration, conducted via video conferencing.
In a tweet, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya congratulated the country on achieving the feat, and said it was the result of the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
बधाई हो भारत!
— Dr Mansukh Mandaviya (@mansukhmandviya) October 21, 2021
दूरदर्शी प्रधानमंत्री श्री @NarendraModi जी के समर्थ नेतृत्व का यह प्रतिफल है।#VaccineCentury pic.twitter.com/11HCWNpFan
According to official sources, around 75 per cent of India's all eligible adult population has been administered at least the first dose and around 31 per cent has received both the doses of the vaccine.
India took 85 days to touch the 10-crore vaccination mark, 45 more days to cross the 20-crore mark and 29 more days to reach the 30-crore mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data.
The country took 24 days to reach the 40-crore mark from 30-crore doses and then 20 more days to surpass the 50-crore vaccination mark on August 6.It then took 76 days to go past the 100-crore mark.
The top five states which have administered the highest number of doses are Uttar Pradesh followed by Maharashtra, West Bengal, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh.
The countrywide vaccination drive was rolled out on January 16 with health care workers (HCWs) getting inoculated in the first phase. The vaccination of frontline workers (FLWs) started from February 2.
The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commenced from March 1 for people over 60 years of age and those aged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions.
The country launched vaccination for all people aged over 45 years from April 1.
The government then decided to expand its vaccination drive by allowing all above 18 to be vaccinated from May 1.
Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, which has developed Covaxin, had submitted EOI (Expression of Interest) to the World Health Organisation on April 19 for its vaccine.Swaminathan, the WHO's Chief Scientist, said on Twitter on Sunday that the technical advisory group will meet on October 26 to consider the Emergency Use Listing (EUL) for Covaxin.
@WHO has been working closely with @BharatBiotech to complete the dossier. Our goal is to have a broad portfolio of vaccines approved for emergency use and to expand access to populations everywhere," she said in the tweet.
Earlier this month, the WHO said that Bharat Biotech has been submitting data to WHO on a rolling basis and submitted additional information at the WHO's request on September 27. The WHO experts are currently reviewing this information and if it addresses all questions raised, the WHO assessment will be finalised next week."
The Geneva-based WHO said it began rolling data of the vaccine on July 6. Rolling data allows the WHO to start its review right away, as information continues to come in to accelerate the overall review process.
According to the WHO, submissions for pre-qualification or listing under the emergency use procedure are confidential.
If a product submitted for assessment is found to meet the criteria for listing, the WHO will publish the results widely.
Duration of the emergency use listing process depends on the quality of the data submitted by the vaccine manufacturer and on the data meeting the WHO's criteria, according to the agency.
The indigenously-developed Bharat Biotech's Covaxin is one of the six vaccines that have received emergency use authorisation from India's drug regulator Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI) and is being used in the nationwide anti-COVID-19 inoculation programme along with Covishield and Sputnik V.
Bharat Biotech recently said it has submitted all data pertaining to Covaxin to the WHO for the EUL and is awaiting feedback from the global health watchdog.
"#COVAXIN clinical trial data was fully compiled and available in June 2021. All Data submitted for Emergency Use Listing (EUL) Application to World Health Organization in early July. We have responded to any clarifications sought by #WHO and are awaiting further feedback," Bharat Biotech had tweeted last month.
"We are diligently working with the WHO to obtain EUL at the earliest, the company had said on Tuesday.
India, the world's largest producer of vaccines overall, suspended exports of COVID-19 vaccines in April to focus on inoculating its own population following a sudden spike in infections.
Last month, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya announced that India will resume the supplies abroad.
According to Johns Hopkins University, the coronavirus has claimed 4,897,386 lives along with 240,559,605 confirmed cases across the world so far.
The source told IANS that the target of 100 crore vaccine doses will be achieved on October 14 and the feat will be celebrated as India's triumph over Covid 'evil spirit' much like the 'Vijayadashami' festival, which signifies the victory of good over evil.
"The day will be celebrated as the victory of India over the evil spirit of Covid," the source said. The government is pushing its boundaries to achieve the target of 100 crore doses by that day, he added.
The Health Ministry has planned to celebrate this in a grand manner on 'Vijayadashami' to symbolically register the victory over Covid. All the concerned departments have been instructed to be prepared in advance to disseminate the achievement via media to make people aware about it. The mega celebration will involve frontline workers, healthcare staff and Covid warriors, who died of the infection playing a pivotal role in achieving the target of 100 crore doses.
The world's largest vaccination drive against Covid-19 is being conducted in India, "and it will be a special occasion to celebrate when we complete administering 100 crore doses of vaccines", said the source.
"It is most likely that Prime Minister Narendra Modi may address the nation after the country achieves the remarkable feat of 100 crore doses," the source further said, adding that the Prime Minister may also make an announcement for the Covid warriors, who died while fighting the pandemic and saving lives.
So far, India has administered 1,03,75,424 first dose of vaccines and 90,36,583 second doses of vaccines to the Healthcare workers. The frontline workers have received 1,83,59,259 first dose and 1,53,98,857 second dose vaccines till Tuesday morning.
In the age group of 18-44 years, the first doses have been given to 38,68,20,261 people and 10,40,73,546 have got both doses.
In the age group 45-59 years, the first doses have been administered to 16,61,56,424 and 8,38,76,362 have got their second dose as well.
For the elderly people over 60 years, 10,48,69,202 vaccines have been administered as the first dose and 6,00,12,131 vaccines as the second dose, as per the data shared by the Health Ministry till Tuesday morning.
Till Tuesday morning, India has administered over 95.89 crore doses of the Covid-19 vaccine with 68.86 lakh being inoculated during the past 24 hours.
Till now, six states and union territories have completed administering at least the first dose to all 18 plus population that includes -- Lakshadweep, Chandigarh, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, and Sikkim. Total 12 states and union territories have administered the first dose to at least over 80 per cent of the adult population as per the latest data shared by the health ministry.
Meanwhile, India continues to show the declining trends in the daily trajectory of Covid caseloads.
India on Tuesday reported 14,313 fresh Covid cases in the last 24 hours, lowest recorded cases in the 224 days. Total 181 deaths have also been reported in the same time span, pushing the death toll to 4,50,963, the Union Health Ministry said.
The active caseload is presently 2,14,900, which is the lowest in 212 days. The active Covid cases presently constitute 0.63 per cent of the country's total positive cases.
The weekly positivity rate at 1.48 per cent remains less than 3 per cent for the last 109 days now. The daily positivity rate has remained below 3 per cent for the last 43 days and below 5 per cent for 126 consecutive days now, as per the data from the health ministry.
With only three days left and to achieve the momentous feat, India will now speed up the action to administer the remaining doses of the vaccine.
According to news agency ANI, the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) has given the necessary approval for the administration of the anti-Covid vaccine to children.
"Subject Expert Committee (SEC) has given a recommendation to DCGI (Drugs Controller General of India) for the use of BharatBiotech's Covaxin for 2-18 year olds," the news agency tweeted.
Subject Expert Committee (SEC) has given a recommendation to DCGI (Drugs Controller General of India) for the use of BharatBiotech's Covaxin for 2-18 year olds: Official sources
— ANI (@ANI) October 12, 2021
The phase-2 and phase-3 trial of the vaccine on children have been completed. Earlier this month, Bharat Biotech had submitted the trial data on Covaxin for children in the 2-18 years age group to the DCGI.
Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, which completed the phase 2/3 trials of Covid vaccine Covaxin for use in children aged between 2 and 18 years, had submitted the data to the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) for its verification and subsequent approval for emergency use authorisation (EUA) for the jab in the beginning of this month.
The Subject Expert Committee (SEC) on COVID-19 examined the data and deliberated on the EUA application on Monday.
"After detailed deliberation, the committee recommended grant of market authorisation of the vaccine for the age group of 2 to 18 years for restricted use in emergency situations subject to the certain conditions," a source quoted SEC as having stated in its recommendations.
The recommendations have been forwarded to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for final approval.
Speaking on the development, Dr E Venkata Rao, chief of clinical trial of Covaxin said, "In the phase-2 trial, it was confirmed that Covaxin can be administered to children above the age of 12 years. When the vaccine was rolled out, testing was conducted on the children between 2 and 18 years and it was found that the vaccine is safe and effective."
"Even before the approval of the DCGI, we were of the view that Covaxin will be safe and effective on children, given the fact that it is being administered to pregnant women and breastfeeding women," he added.
(With PTI Inputs)
After four days of talks last week, the WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) on Monday recommended that such people should receive a third dose of a vaccine on the WHO Emergency Use Listing (UEL) as they are "less likely to respond adequately to vaccination following a standard primary vaccine series and are at high risk of severe Covid-19 disease", reports Xinhua news agency.
Since the end of September, several Covid-19 vaccines have been certified by the WHO UEL, including Pfizer-BioNTech, Janssen, Moderna, Sinopharm, Sinovac, AstraZeneca, and Covishield.
SAGE said it had also reviewed COVAXIN, made by India's Bharat Biotech, and a policy recommendation will be issued once the vaccine is approved by the WHO UEL.
Third doses of the Chinese Sinovac and Sinopharm inactivated virus vaccines should be offered to those over 60, said WHO experts.
Meanwhile, the use of a heterologous (or live virus) jab for the additional dose may also be considered based on vaccine supply and access considerations.
"When implementing this recommendation, countries should initially aim at maximising two-dose coverage in that population, and thereafter administer the third dose, starting in the oldest age groups," SAGE said.
The WHO had earlier called for a global moratorium on Covid-19 booster doses, aiming for a more equitable distribution of vaccines globally to enable every country to vaccinate at least 40 percent of its population.
Last week, the Organization announced an initiative to vaccinate 40 per cent of the population of every country against Covid-19 by the end of 2021, and 70 per cent by mid-2022.
This drive would prioritise vaccine delivery to low-income countries, particularly those in Africa.
Security services have said that they have proof that one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's spies swiped the vital data from the drugs firm, including the blueprint for the Covid jab, The Sun newspaper report said.
Russia's Sputnik jab uses similar technology to the Oxford designed vaccine.
The security teams are now sure it was copied. It is understood the data was stolen by a foreign agent in person, the report said.
Last year, spies blamed Putin, saying they were "more than 95 per cent" sure that Russian state-sponsored hackers had targeted British, American and Canadian bodies developing a Covid vaccine.
Late UK Security Minister James Brokenshire said at the time: "We are very careful in terms of calling these things out, ensuring we can have that confidence in attribution. We believe we have this here."
Conservative MP Bob Seely, an expert in Russian affairs, said: "I think we need to get serious about Russian and Chinese espionage. Whether it is stealing the design for AstraZeneca or blackmailing us over energy by these authoritarian and totalitarian regimes, we need to get wise to them."
The claims come just months after Putin confirmed that he had received a shot of the Sputnik V vaccine as he urged Russians to get vaccinated against Covid, Daily Mail reported.
"Today, the WHO is launching the Strategy to Achieve Global Covid-19 Vaccination by mid-2022," Xinhua news agency quoted WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as saying at a press briefing here on Thursday.
"The strategy outlines the road we must all take together to achieve our targets of vaccinating 40 per cent of the population of every country by the end of this year, and 70 percent by the middle of next year."
According to Tedros, achieving these targets will require at least 11 billion vaccine doses, which is an allocation problem instead of a supply problem.
"With global vaccine production now at nearly 1.5 billion doses per month, there is enough supply to achieve our targets, provided they are distributed equitably," he said.
According to the WHO's records, more than 6.4 billion vaccine doses have now been administered globally, and almost one-third of the world's population is fully vaccinated against the virus.
However, low-income countries have received less than half of one percent of the world's vaccines.
In Africa, less than 5 per cent of people are fully vaccinated.
Earlier this year, the WHO had set a target for all countries to vaccinate 10 per cent of their populations by the end of September, but 56 countries didn't make it.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who joined the WHO chief at the initiatve's launch, said: "Vaccine inequality is the best ally of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"But through dose sharing, swaps, technology transfers and other priority actions, it is possible to reduce deaths and minimize suffering, prevent health systems from being overwhelmed, resume social and economic activities, and reduce the risk of dangerous new variants."
The UN chief also renewed his appeal to the G20 nations for help, adding that "their meeting later this month will be an opportunity to deliver".
"I urge all global stakeholders to step up, mobilize their resources and turn this strategy into a reality," he said.
More than 5.28 crore unutilised vaccine doses are still available with the states/UTs.
A total of 88,14,50,515 vaccine doses have been provided to states/UTs so far through the government (free of cost channel) and direct state procurement category, the ministry said.
The Union government is committed to accelerating the pace and expanding the scope of COVID-19 vaccination throughout the country, it said.
The vaccination drive has been ramped up through availability of more vaccines, advance visibility of vaccine availability to states and UTs for enabling better planning by them, and streamlining the vaccine supply chain, the ministry said.
As part of the nationwide vaccination drive, the government has been supporting states and UTs by providing them COVID-19 vaccines for free, the ministry said.
Under universalisation of the COVID-19 vaccination drive, the Centre will procure and supply free of cost 75 per cent of the vaccines being produced by the vaccine manufacturers in the country to states and UTs, it said.
“Covid infected patients suffer internal infections after recovery. Internal organs like heart, lung and brain are affected more post the infection. However, the post Covid complications are less on the fully vaccinated people,” said Mohapatra.
The top health official urged the people in the State to get the double doses of vaccines at the earliest as the effect of post-Covid effects on the fully vaccinated people are less.
“Covid-19 has serious effects on the unvaccinated people. Mostly the unvaccinated people are getting critical and they require hospitalisation during the infection. They are most likely to suffer from serious infections in their internal organs post the infection. Hence people should be more careful. They should take the double doses of vaccination as soon as possible,” said Mohapatra.
He also urged people to avoid crowd during the upcoming Durga Puja to avert a spurt in the Covid-19 cases after the festivity.
“It will not at all be possible to maintain social distancing during Puja times. So, everybody should be careful to avoid crowd. I request one and all to adhere to the Covid-19 guidelines strictly during the crucial festival time to keep the pandemic under control,” said Mohapatra.
The new travel advisory that will be implemented from October 4 at 4 a.m. says, "Formulations of the four listed vaccines -- AstraZeneca Covishield, AstraZeneca vaxzevria and Moderna Takeda qualify as approved vaccines." It adds further, "You must have had a complete course of an approved vaccine at least 14 days before you arrive in England".
However the new travel advisory said that until October 4, mixed vaccines are only permitted if you are vaccinated under the UK, Europe, USA or UK overseas vaccination program.
However, according to a UK High Commission statement on Tuesday, its government is "working with India to expand recognition of vaccine certification." His statement intended about the doubts over vaccination certification in India.
A British High Commission spokesperson said, "The UK is committed to opening up international travel again as soon as is practicable and this announcement is a further step to enable people to travel more freely again, in a safe and sustainable way, while protecting public health. We are engaging with the Government of India to explore how we could expand UK recognition of vaccine certification to people vaccinated by a relevant public health body in India."
However, this updated travel advisory has been issued after severe criticism all around. The WHO chief scientist Dr Saumya Swaminathan has said that all countries are supposed to follow the WHO recommendations. Talking to IANS, WHO chief scientist said, "WHO's position is clear on this that all countries should recognize EUL vaccines. All countries are supposed to follow our recommendations. They are not binding".
The Director-General of WHO Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that it is an important development in support of reaching the 40 per cent vaccination target in all countries by the end of this year.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) Director General has thanked Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya for resuming shipments of vaccines against the Covid-19 to the global platform COVAX from October.
Health Minister on Monday had announced that India will resume the vaccine export to the global platform COVAX starting from October. He said, only excess supplies would qualify for export. "We will help other countries and fulfil our responsibility towards COVAX," he said on Monday.
Terming the decision an important development, the WHO Director said on social media, "Thank you Health Minister @mansukhmandviya for announcing #India will resume crucial #COVID19 vaccine shipments to #COVAX in October. This is an important development in support of reaching the 40 per cent vaccination target in all countries by the end of the year".
Thank you Health Minister @mansukhmandviya for announcing #India will resume crucial #COVID19 vaccine shipments to #COVAX in October. This is an important development in support of reaching the 40% vaccination target in all countries by the end of the year. #VaccinEquity
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) September 21, 2021
India stopped vaccine exports in the last week of April amid second Covid surge to jab its own population. However, prior to the export ban, India had either sold or donated 66 million doses to nearly 100 countries.
While announcing to resume the vaccine exports under Vaccine Maitri program, the minister Mandaviya said that the surplus supply of vaccines will be used to fulfill the commitment towards the world for the collective fight against Covid-19.
COVAX is co-led by Gavi, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and WHO. While talking about the production of the vaccine in coming months, Mandaviya said that more than 30 crore doses will be produced in October and more than 100 crores in the coming quarter vaccines will be produced.
Further, more than 15 lakh doses are in the pipeline.
Over 5.43 crore balance and unutilised COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with the states and UTs to be administered, the ministry said.
The vaccination drive has been ramped up through the availability of more vaccines, advanced visibility of vaccine availability to states and UTs for enabling better planning by them and streamlining the vaccine supply chain.
As part of the nationwide vaccination drive, the Centre has been supporting the states and UTs by providing them COVID-19 vaccines free of cost.
The countrywide vaccination drive against the coronavirus was rolled out on January 16 with healthcare workers getting inoculated in the first phase.
"Standing tall against COVID-19. India administers 80 crore vaccine doses. Congratulations to the nation on this momentous feat," Mandaviya tweeted using the hashtag "WorldsLargestVaccinationDrive".
On Friday, India administered the highest ever single-day vaccinations with 2.5 crore doses given in 24 hours, which Mandaviya described as a golden chapter in world history.
India took 85 days to touch the 10-crore vaccination mark, 45 more days to cross the 20-crore mark and 29 more days to reach the 30-crore mark, according to the health ministry.
The country took 24 days to reach 40 crore from 30 crore doses and then 20 more days to cross the 50-crore vaccination mark on August 6, the ministry said.
It took 19 more days to go past the 60-crore mark and took only 13 days to reach 70 crore from 60 crore on September 7, it said.
The total number of doses administered crossed the 75-crore mark on September 13.
Director, Health Services Bijay Panigrahi on Friday said that though reminders are being sent to such beneficiaries, whose second doses are due, they are unwilling to get inoculated.
However, Panigrahi was quick to clarify that the hesitancy is not deliberate but borne out of forgetfulness about the second dose.
He said there was no shortage of vaccines as the State currently has a stock of around 27.52 lakh doses of Covishield and 1.08 lakh doses of Covaxin vaccines.
According to Panigrahi, over 2.67 crore people have been vaccinated so far in Odisha. Out of this, around 1.98 crore people (64 % beneficiaries) have been administered the first dose of Covisheild and Covaxin vaccines in the State. The second dose has been administered to 68 lakh citizens in the State so far.
“As there is a gap of nearly 12 to 16 weeks between the first and second dose of Covisheild vaccine, many people are forgetting the scheduled date.
We are reminding them by sending SMSes. The reminders are sent three days prior to the due date for the second dose inoculations,” said Panigrahi.
The Health Services Director further said that reminders are also sent to the beneficiaries on the day of vaccination as well.
“We have instructed officials at the district level to prepare a list of beneficiaries who have either missed their second dose or their second dose is due. The frontline health workers will encourage and facilitate such beneficiaries to take their second dose of Covid-19 vaccine,” Panigrahi added.
Meanwhile, the Director of the Directorate of Medical Education & Training (DMET) in Odisha, CBK Mohanty today said that three the months of the festive season will be crucial in the ongoing fight against Covid-19 in the State.
“There are chances of crowding during the festive season and people should strictly follow the Covid appropriate behaviour. Awareness among people holds key as already the vaccination drive has been intensified in Odisha,” said Mohanty.
On rise of Covid-19 infection cases in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, Mohanty said the big cities are the health and commercial hub of the State and there is constant inflow of large number of people from all over the State and country to these places.
Soriot's comments come as the UK is just "a few weeks away" away from officially announcing booster doses for all its citizens, The Telegraph reported.
"Moving too quickly to boost across the entire adult population will deprive us of these insights, leaving this important decision to rest on limited data," Soriot wrote in the newspaper.
"A third dose for all may be needed, but it may not. Mobilising the NHS for a boosting programme that is not needed would potentially add unnecessary burden on the NHS over the long winter months.
"Because NHS staff and resources are scarce, another national mobilisation would potentially leave us with fewer resources for cancer screenings and the other care provided by doctors and nurses each day," he said.
The UK drug maker chief noted that "this is important not just for the UK but for the rest of the world".
So far, 1.2 billion doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, Covishield in India, have been distributed.
The booster roll out in the UK is awaiting a green signal from the independent advisory body Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), who are expecting study results on seven different booster vaccines.
Soriot further stated that it is critical to understand the need for a third dose, as the decision will have "real implications for how we deploy scarce NHS resources".
While booster doses may be "a sensible immediate precaution" for the vulnerable, the elderly or those with people with weak immune systems, the decision to jab the entire population must be based on "real world clinical effectiveness data, not simply antibody measurements", they noted.
"Indeed, we don't know what mix of antibodies and T-cells are needed to prevent serious illness -- the so-called correlates of protection. This is why we need the weight of the clinical evidence gathered from real world use before we can make an informed decision on a third dose," they pointed out.
On the other hand, US pharmaceutical major Pfizer's CEO Albert Bourla had announced that Covid vaccine recipients will "likely" need a third dose between six to 12 months after they're fully vaccinated. He also suggested the need for yearly vaccinations against coronavirus.
The US is also expected to soon roll out Covid booster vaccines for all its citizens, even as the World Health Organisation has called for a moratorium on boosters.
The US has already started a third dose for immunocompromised people.
Other countries include Israel, Italy, France, and Russia.