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COVID-19 Update India case 92.66 lakh, recoveries surge to 86.79 lakh

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NEW DELHI: India’s COVID-19 caseload increased to 92.66 lakh with 44,489 new infections being reported in a day, while the recoveries surged to 86.79 lakh, the Union health ministry said on Thursday.

The country’s coronavirus tally mounted to 92,66,705, while the death toll climbed to 1,35,223 with 524 new fatalities, the ministry data updated at 8 am showed.

The COVID-19 active caseload has risen to 4,52,344, an increase of 7,598 cases from Wednesday, even though it remained below 5 lakh for the 16th consecutive day.

The active cases comprise 4.88 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.

The total number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 86,79,138, pushing the national recovery rate to  93.66 per cent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.46 per cent.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23 and 40 lakh on September 5.

It went past 50 lakh on September 16, 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, 80 lakh on October 29, and surpassed 90 lakh on November 20.

According to ICMR, over 13.59 crore samples have been tested for COVID-19 till November 25, with 10,90,238 samples being tested on Wednesday.

The 524 new fatalities include 99 from Delhi, 65 from Maharashtra, 51 from West Bengal, 42 from Haryana, 31 from Punjab, 29 from Uttar Pradesh and 26 from Kerala.

A total of 1,35,223 deaths reported so far in the country includes 46,748 from Maharashtra followed by 11,714 from Karnataka, 11,655 from Tamil Nadu, 8,720 from Delhi, 8,172 from West Bengal, 7,644 from Uttar Pradesh, 6,962 from Andhra Pradesh,   4,684 from Punjab and 3,906 from Gujarat.

COVID-19 Update India adds 44,376 new cases to its tally, 481 deaths in last 24 hours

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The total active cases in India stands at 4,44,746 as of Wednesday after 37,816 people were discharged in last 24 hours taking total recoveries to 86,42,771

India on Wednesday added 44,376 new COVID-19 cases to its total tally and 481 deaths in last 24 hours as per data shared by the Union Health Ministry. 

With this addition, the coronavirus tally in India has reached 92,22,217 while toll touched 1,34,699.

The total active cases in India stands at 4,44,746 as of Wednesday after 37,816 people were discharged in last 24 hours taking total recoveries to 86,42,771.

COVID-19 Update India climbs to 91.77 lakh with 37,975 new infections; death toll nears 1.35 lakh mark

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NEW DELHI: India saw 37,975 new coronavirus infections being reported in a day taking the country’s COVID-19 caseload to 91.77 lakh, while the recoveries crossed 86 lakh, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.

The total coronavirus cases mounted to 91,77,840 and the death toll climbed to 1,34,218 with 480 new fatalities, including 121 from the national capital alone, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The number of active cases remained below 5 lakh for the fourteenth consecutive day.

There are 4,38,667 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country as on date which comprises 4.78 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 86,04,955 pushing the national recovery rate to  93.76 per cent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.46 per cent.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23 and 40 lakh on September 5.

It went past 50 lakh on September 16, 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, and surpassed 90 lakh on November 20.

According to the ICMR, over 13.36 crore samples have been tested up to November 23 with 10,99,545 samples being tested on Monday.

The 480 new fatalities include 121 from Delhi, 47 from West Bengal, 30 from Maharashtra, 28 from Haryana, 24 from Karnataka, 23 each from Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and  22 from Kerala.

A total of 1,34,218 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 46,653 from Maharashtra followed by 11,678 from Karnataka, 11,622 from Tamil Nadu, 8,512 from Delhi, 8,072 from West Bengal, 7,582 from Uttar Pradesh, 6,948 from Andhra Pradesh, 4,631 from Punjab and 3,876 from Gujarat.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

“Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of  Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

COVID-19 Update India breaches 91-lakh mark with 44,059 fresh infections

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The total coronavirus cases mounted to 91,39,865, while the death toll climbed to 1,33,738 with 511 new fatalities including 121 from Delhi alone, the data updated at 8 am showed.

NEW DELHI: India’s COVID-19 caseload went past 91 lakh with 44,059 coronavirus infections being reported in a day, while the recoveries surged to 85,62,641, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.

The total coronavirus cases mounted to 91,39,865, while the death toll climbed to 1,33,738 with 511 new fatalities including 121 from Delhi alone, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The number of active cases remained below 5 lakh for the thirteenth consecutive day.

There are 4,43,486 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country as on date which comprises 4.85 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.

The national recovery rate was recorded 93.68 per cent,  while the COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.46 per cent.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh  on August 23 and 40 lakh on September 5.

It went past  50 lakh on September 16,  60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on  October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29, and surpassed 90 lakh on November 20.

According to the ICMR, over 13.25 crore samples have been tested up to November 22 with 8,49,596 samples being tested on Sunday.

The 511 new fatalities include 121 from Delhi, 50 from Maharashtra, 49 from West Bengal, 35 from Uttar Pradesh, 27 from Kerala and 25 from Haryana.

A total of 1,33,738 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 46,623 from Maharashtra followed by 11,654 from Karnataka, 11,605 from Tamil Nadu, 8,391 from Delhi, 8,025 from West Bengal, 7,559 from Uttar Pradesh,  6,938 from Andhra Pradesh, 4,614 from Punjab and 3,859 from Gujarat.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

“Our figures are being reconciled with the Indian Council of  Medical Research,” the ministry said on its website, adding that state-wise distribution of figures is subject to further verification and reconciliation.

500 additional oxygen beds for Delhi Covid care centre

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A home ministry spokesperson announced that Delhi government has been asked to refer the patients who need critical care to these facilities.

Oxygen

NEW DELHI:  To strengthen the medical infrastructure in Delhi which is witnessing a huge spike in Covid-19 cases, 500 isolation beds at a Covid care centre will be converted into oxygen beds, while the number of ICU beds has already been increased by 150 in the last three days, the Union Home Ministry said Thursday.

As many as 75 doctors and 251 paramedics from the paramilitary forces have reported to duty in Delhi, of whom 50 doctors and 175 paramedics have been deployed at the Chhatarpur and Shakur Basti Covid care centres, the MHA said. A home ministry spokesperson announced that Delhi government has been asked to refer the patients who need critical care to these facilities.

A total of 500 isolation beds at the Chhatarpur Covid care centre will have oxygen facility by the weekend. The current capacity of 3,652 ICU beds in the national capital will be further ramped up. Train coaches with 800 beds at the Shakurbasti railway station will become functional and the doctors and paramedics from the paramilitary forces will man these coaches.The government has also decided to increase the number of daily RT-PCR tests in Delhi to 60,000 by the end of November.

Oxford COVID vaccine should be available for public by April 2021: Serum Institute CEO

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NEW DELHI: Vaccine maker Serum Institute of India’s CEO Adar Poonawalla on Thursday said the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine should be available for healthcare workers and elderly people by around February 2021 and by April for the general public, and will be priced at a maximum of Rs 1,000 for two necessary doses for the public, depending on the final trial results and regulatory approvals.

Probably by 2024, every Indian will get vaccinated, he said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit (HTLS), 2020.

“It will probably take two or three years for every Indian to get inoculated, not just because of the supply constraints but because you need the budget, the vaccine, logistics, infrastructure and then, people should be willing to take the vaccine.

So these are the factors that lead up to being able to vaccinate 80-90 per cent of the population.

“It will be 2024 for everybody, if willing to take a two-dose vaccine, to be vaccinated,” Poonawalla said. Asked at what price the public will get it, he said it will be around USD 5-6 per dose with an MRP of around Rs 1,000 for the two necessary doses.

“The government of India will be getting it at a far cheaper price at around USD 3-4, because it will be buying in a large volume and get access to the price that is similar to what COVAX has got.

Asked about the efficacy of the vaccine, he said the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine is so far proving to work very well even in elderly people, which was a concern earlier.

“It has induced a good T-cell response, which is an indicator for your long-term immunity and antibody response but then again, time will only tell if these vaccines are going to protect you in the long term.

Nobody can answer that for any of the vaccines today,” Poonawalla said.

Responding to a question on the safety aspect, he said there has been no major complaints, reactions or adverse events, adding, “We would need to wait and see. The efficacy and immunogenicity results from the Indian trials will come out in about a month-and-a half.”

Asked when the SII will apply for an emergency authorisation, Poonawalla said as soon as the UK authorities and the European Medicines Evaluation Agency (EMEA) approve it for emergency use, it will apply to the drug controller for emergency use authorisation in India.

“But that will be for a limited use for frontline workers, healthcare workers and elderly people,” he added.

Children would have to wait a little longer till the safety data is out, but the good news is that COVID-19 is not so bad and serious for them, Poonawalla said.

“Unlike measles pneumonia, which is deadly, this disease is seeming to be less of a nuisance for children but then, they can be carriers and can give the infection to others.

“We want to vaccinate the elderly people and others who are the most vulnerable first. Once we have enough safety data to go in on children, we can recommend it for children too,” he said.

Poonawalla said the Oxford vaccine is affordable, safe and stored at a temperature of two to eight degrees Celsius, which is an ideal temperature for it to be stored in the cold storages of India.

He said the SII plans to make about 10 crore doses per month from February.

As regards how many doses would be provided to India, Poonawalla said talks are still going on and no agreement has been arrived at in this regard.

“India wants around 400 million doses by July. I do not know if it will take all from the Serum Institute. We are gearing up to offer that kind of volume to India and still have a few 100 million to offer to COVAX by July and August. No agreement so far,” he said.

Poonawala said the SII is not entering into any agreement with other countries at this moment as India is its priority.

“We have not signed and committed anything else beyond Bangladesh at the moment. We really do not want to partner right now with many countries because we will not have enough stocks to deliver.

“We want to handle India as a priority first and manage Africa at the same time and then help out other countries,” he said.

Poonawalla said 30-40 crore doses of the Oxford vaccine will be available by the first quarter of 2021.

In another session of the summit, AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria said there is some talk going on between Pfizer and the Indian government but not much with Moderna.

“It is going to be a huge challenge as far as the Pfizer vaccine is concerned, considering that it needs a cold chain of minus 70 degrees Celsius,” he said and pinned hoped on the vaccines that are at various stages of trial in India.

On the availability of a COVID-19 vaccine, Guleria said the percentage of population to be inoculated will depend on the number of vaccines getting the regulatory approvals and the number of shots they are producing.

He further said the coronavirus goes into the lungs without making a person symptomatic.

“We have individuals who are asymptomatic and you can see patches in their lungs at CT scans directly.

It really bypasses a person’s defence mechanism, which means that you not only have the virus in your nose or throat, but it has gone right into your lungs.

A virus which can do that is something we have to be wary of,” Guleria said.

COVID-19 Update India reports 45,882 new cases, 584 deaths, total cases cross 90 lakh mark

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Total active cases is now  at 4,43,794 after an increase of 491 in the last 24 hours while total discharged cases is 84,28,410 with 44,807 new discharges in the same time period.

With 45,882 new COVID-19 infections, India’s total cases has crossed the 90 lakh mark

According to the Health Ministry’s Friday morning update, the total caseload in the country has risen to 90,04,366.

The death toll has mounted to 1,32,162 with 584 new deaths.

Total active cases is now  at 4,43,794 after an increase of 491 in the last 24 hours while total discharged cases is 84,28,410 with 44,807 new discharges in the same time period.

Volunteers still needed to test a variety of COVID-19 vaccines

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Volunteers still needed to test a variety of COVID-19 vaccinesWashington: Two COVID-19 vaccines might be nearing the finish line, but scientists caution it’s critical that enough people volunteer to help finish studying other candidates in the US and around the world.

Moderna Inc and competitor Pfizer Inc recently announced preliminary results showing their vaccines appear more than 90% effective, at least for short-term protection against COVID-19.

If those early results hold up and US regulators agree the shots are safe, emergency use of small, rationed supplies could start in late December. Other countries with contracts for early doses would undertake their own reviews.

But multiple vaccines will be needed to meet global demand and help end the pandemic, raising concern that studies that still need to sign up thousands of volunteers could run short if people wait for an already OK’d option instead.

We don’t want to see that happen, said Dr. James Cutrell, an infectious disease expert at UT Southwestern Medical Centre in Dallas.

Supplies aside, other COVID-19 vaccines under development may work differently in different populations, and “we likely will benefit from having a menu of vaccine options, Cutrell said.

We still need volunteers, stressed National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins, urging Americans to sign up.

Additionally, participants in the Moderna and Pfizer studies who originally got dummy shots would almost certainly be offered the real vaccine if the US Food and Drug Administration allows emergency use. But no one knows how long protection would last, meaning those studies also must continue to track recipients somehow.

It’s one thing to be effective two months after your last vaccination and another thing to be effective a year later said Dr. Jesse Goodman of Georgetown University, a former director of the FDA’s vaccine division. It’s going to be really important to complete these clinical trials and the trials of the other vaccines so we can make comparisons.

The promising Moderna and Pfizer news bode well for some of their competitors, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the US government’s top infectious disease expert whose team at NIH helped develop the Moderna candidate.

Those shots target the spike protein that studs the surface of the coronavirus, and the early results prove that’s enough to generate a protective response, Fauci said. Conceptually this looks good for other spike-focused vaccines made in different ways.

Here’s a scorecard of the frontrunners in the global vaccine race:

GENETIC CODE VACCINES

The Moderna-NIH vaccine and the candidate developed by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech aren’t made with the coronavirus itself, meaning there’s no chance anyone could catch it from the shots.

Instead, the vaccines are made with a brand-new technology that injects a piece of genetic code for the spike protein. That messenger RNA, or mRNA, instructs the body to make some harmless spike protein, enough to prime the immune system to react if it later encounters the real virus.

There are no licensed mRNA vaccines for people, so scientists had no idea if or how well the COVID-19 candidates might work.

Both manufacturers are working to scale up production in factories in the US and Europe. They can’t simply partner with other vaccine companies to take on some of the work because the technology is so different than the way most of today’s shots are made.

It is not a very easy or quick swap, said Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel.

TROJAN HORSE VACCINES

A different way to target the spike protein: Use another, harmless virus to carry the spike gene into the body. Once again, the body produces some spike protein and primes the immune system.

Britain’s Oxford University and AstraZeneca are making their version of this viral vector vaccine with a cold virus, or adenovirus, that normally infects chimpanzees. Studies of tens of thousands of people are underway in the UK, US, and several other countries.

Johnson & Johnson is using a human adenovirus for its version and is the only option in advanced US testing aiming to show if a single dose rather than two would be enough.

China’s government authorized the emergency use of CanSino Biologics’ adenovirus shots in the military ahead of any final testing. Russia likewise began offering an adenovirus vaccine ahead of late-stage tests.

PROTEIN VACCINES

Novavax makes its vaccine candidate by growing harmless copies of the coronavirus spike protein in the laboratory and packaging them into virus-sized nanoparticles.

There are protein-based vaccines against other diseases, so it’s not as novel technology as some of its competitors. Novavax has begun a large final-stage study in Britain and is set soon to begin another in the US.

KILLED VACCINES

Spike-focused vaccines aren’t the only option. Making vaccines by growing a disease-causing virus and then killing it is a tried-and-true approach it’s the way Jonas Salk’s famed polio shots were made.

China has three so-called inactivated COVID-19 vaccine candidates in final testing in several countries and has allowed emergency use in some people ahead of the results. An Indian company is testing its own inactivated candidate.

Safely brewing and then killing the virus takes longer than newer technologies. But inactivated vaccines give the body a sneak peek at the germ itself rather than just that single spike protein. 

COVID-19 Update in India 89-lakh mark with 38,617 new infections

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NEW DELHI: India’s COVID-19 caseload went past 89 lakh, while the number of people who have recuperated from the disease crossed 83 lakh pushing the national recovery rate to 93.52 per cent, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.

The total coronavirus cases mounted to 89,12,907 with  38,617 infections being reported in a day while the death toll climbed to 1,30,993 with 474 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

The number of active cases remained below 5 lakh for the eighth consecutive day.

There are 4,46,805 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country as on date which comprises 5.01 per cent of the total caseload, the data stated.

The total recoveries have surged to 83,35,109 pushing the national recovery rate to 93.52 per cent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.47 per cent.

India’s COVID-19 tally had crossed the 20-lakh mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23 and 40 lakh on September 5.

It went past 50 lakh on September 16, 60 lakh on September 28, 70 lakh on October 11 and crossed 80 lakh on October 29.

According to the ICMR, a cumulative total of more than 12.74 crore samples have been tested up to November 17 with   9,37,279 samples being tested on Tuesday.

The 474 new fatalities include 99 from Delhi, 68 from Maharashtra, 52 from West Bengal, 30 from Punjab, 27 from Kerala and 25 from Haryana.

A total of 1,30,993 deaths have been reported so far in the country including 46,102 from Maharashtra followed by 11,557 from Karnataka, 11,513 from Tamil Nadu, 7,812 from Delhi, 7,766 from West Bengal, 7,412 from Uttar Pradesh, 6,890 from Andhra Pradesh, 4,510 from Punjab and 3,815 from Gujarat.

The health ministry stressed that more than 70 per cent of the deaths occurred due to comorbidities.

Normalcy may return by winter 2021, says Covid-19 vaccine co-creator

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Prof Ugur Sahin said he was confident the vaccine would reduce transmission between people as well as stop symptoms developing in someone who has had the vaccine.

Pfizer vaccine

LONDON: Normalcy from the Covid era can only be expected by next year’s winter as any Covid vaccine will take to show its effect and will not immediately reduce the number of infections, as per the co-developer of Pfizer’s vaccine, media reports said.

A new Covid vaccine’s impact will work significantly over the summer and life should be back to normal by next winter, Prof Ugur Sahin, co-founder of BioNTech, whose vaccine candidate has proved to prevent over 90 per cent people from getting Covid-19, as per preliminary reports. The Pfizer-BioNTech is one of the 11 vaccines in their final tests.

This winter would still be hard, he said in an interview on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show.

Sahin said he was confident the vaccine would reduce transmission between people as well as stop symptoms developing in someone who has had the vaccine, though not as high as the test results but still “maybe 50 per cent”.

He said as everything continued to go well, he said, the vaccine would begin to be delivered at the “end of this year, beginning of next year”.

The goal was to deliver more than 300 million doses worldwide by next April, he said on the BBC show, which “could allow us to only start to make an impact” and the bigger impact would happen later only.

“Summer will help us because the infection rate will go down in the summer and what is absolutely essential is that we get a high vaccination rate until or before autumn/winter next year,” he stressed.

Asked if the vaccine was as effective in older people as it is in younger people, he said he expected to have a better idea in the next three weeks.

He said it was not yet known how long immunity would last after the vaccine’s second shot is administered.

Sahin also said the “key side effects” of the vaccine seen so far were a mild to moderate pain in the injection site for a few days, while some participants had a mild to moderate fever over a similar period.

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