Archives for January 2021

Hyderabad: Bharat Biotech’s fact sheet on COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin, has advised pregnant or breastfeeding women, besides people with high fever or bleeding disorders, not to take the antidote.

The vaccine maker in the fact sheet on Covaxin, posted in its website, said the clinical efficacy of the vaccine is yet to be established and is being studied in Phase 3 clinical trial and hence it is important to appreciate that receiving the vaccine does not mean other precautions related to COVID- 19 need not be followed.

“You should not get Bharat Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin if you have any history of allergies. Have high fever.

Have bleeding disorder or are a blood thinner. Immune compromised or are a medicine that affects your immune system. Are pregnant. Are breast feeding.

Have received another COVID-19 vaccine. Any other serious health related issues, as determined by the vaccinator/ Officer supervising vaccination,” the fact sheet said.

The fact sheet also asked people to inform the vaccinator or a supervising official about their medical condition before taking the vaccine.

Bharat Biotech said in an ongoing clinical trial Covaxin has been shown to generate immunity following two doses given four weeks apart.

Covaxin is a vaccine with approval for restricted use in emergency situations that may prevent COVID-19.

The Central Licensing Authority has granted permission for the sale or distribution of the antidote for restricted use in emergency situations in public interest as an abundant precaution, in clinical trial mode, the fact sheet said.

Covaxin is a highly purified and inactivated two-dose SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, manufactured in a Vero cell manufacturing platform with an excellent safety track record of more than 300 million doses, the company had said.

Covaxin is India’s totally indigenous COVID-19 vaccine developed in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research and National Institute of Virology.

The inactivated vaccine is developed and manufactured in Bharat Biotech’s BSL-3 (Bio-Safety Level 3) biocontainment facility, one of its kind in the world.

Surat: Fifteen migrant labourers sleeping by the roadside in Gujarat’s Surat district were killed on Tuesday after being crushed under a speeding truck, police said.

The tragedy took place near Kosamba village, around 60 km from Surat, police said, adding that all those killed hailed from Rajasthan.

The truck ran over them on the Kim-Mandvi road, police said. While 12 persons died on the spot, three of the eight injured died in a nearby hospital, police said.

The truck driver has been arrested, police said.

Nashik: The Maharashtra government is gathering information about the leaked social media chats between Arnab Goswami and BARC ex-CEO Partho Dasgupta in which highly sensitive things like Balakot airstrike and Pulwama attack were mentioned, Home Minister Anil Deshmukh has said, adding the issue will be discussed by the Cabinet on Tuesday.

The purported chats widely reported in media mentioned that Goswami, the editor-in-chief of Republic TV, was privy to the Balakot air strikes.

Speaking to reporters here on Monday night, Deshmukh said how Goswami came to know about such sensitive information is a big question.

“We are gathering information about the leaked chats between Arnab Goswami and Partho Dasgupta. Some highly sensitive things including the Balakot airstrike and the Pulwama attack have been mentioned in the chats. How Arnab came to know about such sensitive information is a big question,” Deshmukh said.

He said the state Cabinet is scheduled to meet on Tuesday in Mumbai.

“After the meeting, a decision about this issue will be taken,” Deshmukh said.

Earlier in the day, the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) asked the government to set up a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe the purported chats between Goswami and Dasgupta.

Dasgupta, who was arrested in the fake Television Rating Point (TRP) case, is now in the ICU of state-run JJ hospital in central Mumbai.

A diabetic, he was rushed to the hospital from the Taloja Central Prison in Navi Mumbai on Saturday after his blood sugar levels went up on Friday midnight.

The Mumbai police had earlier told the court that Goswami had allegedly bribed Dasgupta with lakhs of rupees to ramp up Republic TV’s viewership. Meanwhile, the home minister attended a review meeting of the police department organised at the Maharashtra Police Academy (MPA) here.

On the occasion, Deshmukh lauded the facilities available at the MPA and expressed satisfaction about the low crime rate in Nashik.

Deshmukh hailed the successful initiative of Pratap Dighavkar, Special IG, Nashik Range, to give back the money of farmers duped by unscrupulous traders.

“We will try to implement this measure at the state level,” the home minister said.

New Delhi: Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan will be on a three-day visit to the UAE beginning Tuesday during which he will hold talks with the leadership of that country with a special focus on the welfare of Indian workers, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Monday.

The visit comes after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s visit to the UAE in November last year.

The Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs will be undertaking an official visit to the UAE from January 19-21, 2021, the MEA said in a statement.

During the visit, he will be meeting with UAE dignitaries and a broad cross-section of the Indian community in the UAE, the MEA said. He will hold talks with the UAE side on various bilateral and international issues of mutual interest, it said.

There will be special focus in the visit on issues related to the Indian community, especially the welfare of Indian workers, the MEA said. India and the UAE have maintained close coordination in the spirit of their comprehensive strategic partnership during the COVID-19 pandemic.

An air bubble arrangement has been functioning successfully between both the countries, the statement said.