Amid rising concerns over the Delta plus variant of the coronavirus, COVID-19 Task Force chief Dr VK Paul on Monday said that there is no scientific data so far to establish that the Delta Plus variant of COVID-19 adversely impacts vaccine efficacy.
Speaking about the possibility of a third wave, he said it will not be fair to put a date on any COVID-19 wave as virus behaviour is unpredictable.
Paul, who is also a Niti Aayog Member, asserted that there is no scientific data so far to establish that the new variant is highly transmissible or reduces vaccine efficacy.
In an interview with PTI, Paul said that another wave of any size would be dependent upon several factors, including overall discipline in terms of COVID-appropriate behaviour, testing and containment strategies, and vaccination rates.
He further stated that the process for getting World Health Organisation’s emergency use approval for Covaxin is proceeding very well. “Hope the decision comes soon. The government is also discussing ways to approve Pfizer, Moderna’s Covid vaccines in India at the earliest,” he said.
This, as Serum Institute of India (SII) chief executive officer Adar Poonawalla on Monday said he is investigating the issues faced by Indians who have taken the Covishield jab and are travelling to the European Union and hoped to resolve them soon.
I realise that a lot of Indians who have taken COVISHIELD are facing issues with travel to the E.U., I assure everyone, I have taken this up at the highest levels and hope to resolve this matter soon, both with regulators and at a diplomatic level with countries.
— Adar Poonawalla (@adarpoonawalla) June 28, 2021
Europe’s new ‘vaccine passport’ programme, which recognises a few COVID-19 vaccines to enable people to travel in and out of Europe, includes the AstraZeneca vaccine but not Covishield, which is produced in India.
Poonawalla’s tweet came amid reports that travellers vaccinated with Covishield may not be eligible for the European Union’s “green pass”, a document that is meant for easy travel within and to the group of countries.
As of now European Union (EU) recognises Vaxzevria (previously COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca, Oxford). The other vaccines approved by the European Medicine Agency are Comirnaty by BioNTech-Pfizer, Moderna and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson).
This comes on a day when Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a slew of relief measures including a Rs 1.1 lakh crore loan guarantee scheme for COVID-affected sectors, increasing the limit of the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme and the announcement of a new credit guarantee scheme.
Sitharaman also declared the deployment of an additional Rs 23,220 crore for short-term emergency preparedness with an emphasis on pediatric care and a new scheme to revive the tourism sector.
Meanwhile, India logged 46,148 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,02,79,331, while daily fatalities were recorded below 1,000, taking the death toll to 3,96,730, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday. The country registered 979 fresh fatalities due to COVID-19 in a day, the lowest in 76 days.
The active cases declined to 5,72,994 comprising 1.89 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 96.80 percent, the data updated at 8 am showed.
Over 40,000 cases of mucormycosis in country so far, says Centre
A total of 40,845 cases of black fungus or mucormycosis have been reported in the country so far, of which 31,344 are rhinocerebral in nature, and the death toll from the infections stands at 3,129, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Monday.
Vardhan, who chaired the 29th meeting of the High-level Group of Ministers (GoM) on COVID-19, apprised the members that of the total numbers, 34,940 patients had Covid (85.5 per cent), 26,187 (about 64.11 per cent) were co-morbid for diabetes, while 21,523 (52.69 percent) of those infected were on steroids.
A total of 13,083 patients were in the age group of 18-45 years (32 per cent), 17,464 were in the age group of 45-60 years (42 per cent), while 10,082 (24 per cent) patients were 60-plus years of age, a health ministry statement said.
50 nations seek CoWIN technology, India prepares to offer free help
About 50 countries, including Canada, Mexico, Nigeria and Panama, have shown interest in having a Co-WIN like system to run their vaccination drive, a senior official said Monday, adding India is ready to share the open-source software free of cost.
Dr RS Sharma, the chairman of the empowered group for Covid-19 vaccine administration, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed officials to create an open-source version of the platform and give it free of cost to any country that wants it.
“The Cowin platform has become so popular that as many as 50 countries from Central Asia, Latin America, Africa all showed interest in having a Co-win like system,” Sharma said at the second Public Health Summit 2021 on ”Emerging Imperatives in Strengthening Public Health for India” organised by Confederation of Indian Industry.
He also said a virtual global conclave of health and technology experts from across the world will be held on July 5 where India will share how this system works.
SC refuses to entertain plea against overcharging for cremations, ambulances
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a plea raising issues of alleged overcharging for cremations, burials as also ambulance services during the COVID-19 pandemic and seeking a direction to the Centre to consider formulating a policy to protect the rights of the dead.
The plea, which had referred to the reports about several bodies found floating in the river Ganga during the pandemic, came up for hearing before a bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and Hemant Gupta.
The bench said the petitioner, a Delhi-based NGO trust, has referred in the plea about recommendations of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on the issue. The apex court said that petitioner can approach the NHRC.
Cases with variants of concern rose from 10% in May to 51% till 20 June
COVID-19 cases with variants of concern rose from 10.31 per cent of total infections in May to 51 per cent till June 20, top government officials told a parliamentary panel on Monday and stressed that both Covaxin and Covishield work against these strains albeit with slightly reduced potency.
The panel was informed that the economic impact of the second wave of viral infection was “asynchronous in its onset and wider in its spread particularly in rural hinterland”, a source said.
About the availability of vaccine doses, officials informed the panel that 135 crore jabs will be made available in the country during the August-December period this year. The doses would be of Covishield, Covaxin, Bio E Subunit vaccine, Zydus Cadila’s DNA vaccine and Sputnik V, they said.
West Bengal extends lockdown till 15 July
The West Bengal government on Monday announced the extension of coronavirus-induced restrictions in the state till July 15 with some relaxations.
Addressing a press conference, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said public buses will be allowed to operate in the state with 50 percent capacity.
Government and private offices would also be allowed to function with 50 percent workforce, she said. Gymnasiums and beauty parlours can also operate with 50 percent capacity from 11 am to 6 pm, she added.
Social gatherings such as weddings would be allowed with a maximum of 50 people, Banerjee said, urging people to continue wearing masks and maintaining social distance. The government also allowed vegetable markets to remain open from 6 am to 12 pm. The restrictions, imposed on 16 May, were last extended till 30 June.
10-day unlock to begin from 1 July in Nagaland
After a lockdown for one and a half months, the Nagaland government on Monday decided to begin a 10-day unlock period in the state from 1 July, senior minister Neiba Kronu said.
Addressing a press conference at the State Civil Secretariat here, government spokesperson for COVID-19 and Minister for Planning & Coordination, Land Revenue and Parliamentary Affairs, Kronu said, “As the way forward, the High Powered Committee (HPC) on COVID-19 has decided to go for Unlock 1 from 1 to 10 July”.
With inputs from PTI