The findings of the study, conducted in February this year after isolating the Omicron variant, have been published in the Journal of Infection on April 5.
"As for the directions given or not given by the Prime Minister, I would like to inform everyone that it is because of the PM's timely and correct directions that India has been able to do the best Covid management and vaccination," said Mandaviya to the house.
As per the recommendation of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI), precaution dose is administered to healthcare workers, frontline workers, and people aged 60 years and above since January 10,2022, she said.
Infection by one variant does not provide protection from the other variants, Indian Council of Medical Research Director General Dr Balram Bhargava said on Thursday.
However, the study has a limitation of lesser participants in the unvaccinated group and the shorter window period post infection. "This could be the important reason for the low immune response specifically in the unvaccinated individuals against Omicron," it said.
The advisory also stated that asymptomatic individuals in community settings and contacts of confirmed cases of Covid-19 need not undergo testing unless the patient is identified as high risk based on age and comorbidities.
About three studies from India - two by the ICMR and one from Bombay conducted on 284, 755 and 244 patients, respectively, Bhargava said that immunity persists for up to 8 months, 7 months, and 6 months respectively.
The ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, NE, Dibrugarh has developed a novel technology -- real-time RT-PCR assay for detection of Omicron (B.1.1.529) variant of SARS-CoV2 and a kit for the same.
The kit is now being produced on a bulk basis by the West Bengal-based GCC Biotech on a public-private partnership (PPP) model.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified the new Covid variant detected in South Africa this week as the 'Variant of Concern' -- VOC, following the Technical Advisory Group meetings.
The total number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country has exceeded 116.87 crore, according to provisional reports till 7 am.
A latest study by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) revealed that Cuttack reports the maximum instances of brain stroke cases among cities in India.
Covaxin Gets WHO Nod; Union Health Minister’s Reaction
The Drugs and Comptroller General of India (DCGI) has given a go-ahead to Bharat Biotech's Covaxin for vaccination of children in the 2-18 years age group.
School teachers, staff and those involved in the transportation of children should be vaccinated on an emergent basis and continue to use a mask even after receiving the jabs, the experts underlined.
There is no difference in antibodies produced by Covaxin and Covishield vaccines against the Covid-19 virus. This information was shared by Odisha Health Services Director Bijay Mohapatra on Monday (Sept 27).
Seventy-three percent people in Odisha have developed antibodies against Covid-19. This information was given by director of RMRC (Regional Medical Research Centre), Sanghamitra Pati on Sunday (Sept 26).
Childhood cancers rank ninth as a leading cause of childhood diseases at the global level, accounting for 11.5 million of the Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs).
Earlier, Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia had launched the first of its kind ‘Medicines from the Sky' project at Vikarabad in Telangana under which drugs and vaccines were to be delivered using drones on September 11.
Talking about the third Covid wave, ICMR top scientist Dr Samiran Panda said that the intensity of any wave in near future would be lesser than what the country witnessed a couple of months ago during the second peak in April-May 2021 and it may not affect the entire country.
The Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC) in Bhubaneswar has begun serological survey in 12 districts of Odisha with a view to estimate the prevalence of Covid-19 antibodies in the general population and healthcare workers across the state.
The antibody responses of individuals with confirmed pre-vaccination SARS-CoV-2 infection were compared with those individuals without prior evidence of infection.
According to a statement issued by the apex Covid body, "ICMR's concerted efforts towards augmenting and diversifying testing prepared the infrastructure which made it possible to deliver on India's increased testing requirements in the wake of the second wave of Covid-19.
While Delta variant has the potential to infect both the vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, however, the progression of illness seems to be prevented by vaccination
The 4th round of Serosurvey conducted by RMRC revealed that over 85 percent health workers in three Odisha districts have developed COVID antibody.
The study conducted by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on COVID antibody reveals that sero prevalence may vary from state to state.
Children can handle the viral infection much better than adults since they have lower number of receptors where the virus attaches. Therefore, when India thinks of reopening schools, it will be wise to open primary schools first.
Two-thirds or 67.6 per cent of India's population aged above 6 years were found to have SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the latest national sero survey. A third of the population did not have SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, which means about 40 crore people are still vulnerable to COVID-19 infection, the official said.
Bhubaneswar: In a bid to assess the development of antibodies in human body against Covid-19, a team of health experts from the Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC), Bhubaneswar, which is a unit of ICMR, is set to kick off the Sero surveillance in three Odisha districts- Rayagada, Ganjam and Koraput- from today.
CoviFind is highly effective in individuals with mid to high viral load, especially in detecting infection in the case of individuals more likely to transmit the disease to others.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Monday appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his intervention to resolve the long pending pleas of the council and to ensure "optimum milieu" for medical professionals without mental and physical fear.
Experts from the ICMR-National Institute of Malaria Research and the Indian Council of Medical Research, on Wednesday, slammed the government for poor planning of the home-grown vaccine production and deployment, as a result of which "India doesn't have enough vaccines to go around".
Odisha government on Thursday discontinued convalescent plasma therapy as a recommended treatment for COVID19.
India is conducting 18-20 lakh tests for detection of COVID-19 per day, the ICMR chief said on Tuesday underlining that despite infection among laboratory staff, the test performance is still being maintained
New Delhi: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has granted permission for conducting feasibility study of Covid-19 vaccine delivery using drones in collaboration with IIT Kanpur. In a statement,…
New Delhi: Increasing efforts towards faster mass vaccination and virus surveillance is the key to ward off dangers posed by a triple-mutant coronavirus now present in the country, health experts…
New Delhi: Indigenously developed COVID-19 vaccine, Covaxin, neutralises multiple variants of SARS-CoV-2 and effectively works against the double mutant strain as well, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said…
New Delhi: India has successfully cultured the new ‘more infectious’ coronavirus strain, which had originated in United Kingdom, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said on Saturday. The British Government had recently announced that the newly identified strain of the virus found in their population is up to 70 per cent more transmissible, following […]
New Delhi: Serum Institute of India’s (SII) COVID-19 vaccine candidate – Covishield – has been recommended by the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) which met today to examine the emergency-use authorisation (EUA) application sought by the pharmaceutical firm. With the SEC giving a green signal to Oxford-AstraZeneca’s COVID vaccine candidate, India is one step away from […]
New Delhi: In the wake of reporting of two adverse events which occurred with the volunteers during the vaccine trial, the fear and hesitation among the people to take the vaccine is growing. The Union health ministry on Tuesday said that the government has never spoken about vaccinating the entire country, rather, it’s important to […]