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The first batch of Covishield, the Serum Institute of India’s coronavirus vaccine, left Pune early this morning, four days ahead of the nationwide inoculation drive against COVID-19. Amid tight security, three temperature-controlled trucks rolled out of the Serum Institute gates with their precious cargo shortly before 5 am. The trucks carried 478 boxes of the vaccines, each box weighing 32 kg, news agency PTI reported quoting an unnamed official. A ”puja” was performed before the vehicles left the facility for the Pune airport. From the airport, the vaccines are being dispatched to 13 cities. “Ready get set go! Stand by India! The vaccine to kill the disease is being loaded into the aircraft for distribution all over the country now,” Pune airport tweeted. The vaccines will be flown from Pune in nine commercial flights, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. “Today, Air India, SpiceJet and IndiGo Airlines will operate nine flights from Pune

• Regular exercise, balanced diet key to good heart health • Binge eating/drinking can aggravate heart problems New Delhi, 08 th January 2021: People with cardiovascular problems need to be extra cautious when temperatures start to fall, as risk of a heart attack begins to climb during cold weather, said cardiology experts sharing their experiences during 16 th edition of ASSOCHAM webinar series on Illness to Wellness. Supported by the hygiene brand SAVLON, the program which promotes healthy living with a quality life focusing on wellness and preventive health through healthy lifestyle habits, balanced diet, regular exercises, and holistic health saw the speakers engage on the preventive measures for healthy Heart especially in winter season. It was also discussed that influenza vaccine for all individuals above 65 years and in addition to that Pneumococcal vaccine is key to stay fit for everyone with heart diseases. “The supply of oxygen-rich blood to heart muscles gets reduced dur

Kerala, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh have contributed to nearly 62 per cent of India”s active cases of the novel coronavirus, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has informed. The total number of active cases in India stands at 2,50,183. Talking about these states, the MoHFW as per Friday, Kerala has 65,054 active COVID-19 cases in the country. And, more than 3,000 people have died to the disease in Kerala. With nearly 2 million COVID-19 cases, Maharashtra has reported active cases at 52,084 so far. The country’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh has reported over 56,454,1 Covid-19 cases till now. A total of 13,831 active cases in the state reported so far.

Eufy has announced a Bluetooth enabled ‘Smart Weighing Scale C1′ in India that has 12 types of health measurements such as weight, body fat, BMI, water, BMR, visceral fat, body fat mass, lean body mass, bone mass, muscle mass, and muscle. The weighing scale from Eufy (a sub-brand of Anker) is aimed to help users track fitness, monitor health, and achieve health and fitness goals. It will be available for purchase in the country starting January 2021. As per the company, the Eufy Smart Weighing Scale C1 is designed to motivate users to keep going and staying fit. Smart Weighing Scale C1 price, availibilty Smart Weighing Scale C1 is priced at Rs. 1,699. It will be available for purchase in India from January 2021 via Flipkart and retail stores. The weighing scale will be offered in black and white finish. It comes with 15 months warranty. Smart Weighing Scale C1 features The weighing scale can store up to 100 readings, as per the company. It can be connected via Bluetooth to the Eufy Hom

Several states on Monday began a trial run of Covid-19 vaccine delivery systems, with health officials checking everything from technology platforms to the storage infrastructure that will be needed to inoculate millions of its citizens. India aims to deliver 600 million coronavirus shots in the next six to eight months starting in January, with emergency use approval for the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine expected within a few days. The country’s drug regulator, Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), is also considering similar approvals for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and another indigenously developed by India’s Bharat Biotech. “The exercise is basically a mock drill for our healthcare workers on how to run the whole vaccination process and system,” Jaiprakash Shivahare, the commissioner for health in Gujarat, told Reuters. Pfizer requires a temperature of minus 70 degrees Celsius and experts have raised questions that India’s existing cold storage facilities do not match these condi

The Oxford coronavirus vaccine will “protect 95 per cent of patients” and is “as effective as the Pfizer and Moderna” alternatives, Pascal Soriot, chief executive of AstraZeneca, told British daily The Sunday Times , adding scientists had figured out a “winning formula to get efficacy up there with everybody else”. However, AstraZeneca, a British-Swedish pharma giant, has yet to release data confirming these claims. Interim results of Phase III trials released last month showed a 70 per cent efficacy rate as the average of two dosing regimens. One of these regimens – a half dose followed by a full dose – showed 90 per cent efficacy, while Pfizer’s data showed 95 per cent and Moderna’s 94.5 per cent. Mr Soriot also said the vaccine, which is likely to be cleared this week by the British health regulator, “should be” effective against an aggressive mutant strain of the virus first detected in London and southeast England in September. The Oxford vaccine, which will be mass-produced in In

New York State Health officials said on Saturday they are investigating a Brooklyn-based healthcare provider on suspicion it violated state guidelines for distribution of COVID-19 vaccine. ParCare Community Health Network “may have fraudulently obtained COVID-19 vaccine, transferred it to facilities in other parts of the state in violation of state guidelines and diverted it to members of the public – contrary to the state’s plan to administer it first to frontline healthcare workers, as well as nursing home residents and staffers,” state Health Commissioner Howard Zucker said in a statement. “We take this very seriously and DOH will be assisting State Police in criminal investigation into this matter,” he added. ParCare Community could not immediately be reached for comment.

Four cases of a coronavirus variant believed to be particularly infectious that recently emerged in Britain have been confirmed in Madrid, the regional government said Saturday, the first cases detected in Spain. All four cases involved people who recently arrived from the UK, the Madrid regional government’s deputy health chief Antonio Zapatero told a news conference. “The patients are not seriously ill, we know that this strain is more transmissible, but it does not cause more serious illness,” he said. “There is no need for alarm,” Zapatero added. There are another three suspected cases of the coronavirus variant but the results of tests will only be available on Tuesday or Wednesday, Zapatero said.

India continued to log more coronavirus recoveries than fresh COVID-19 infections, which rose by 23,067 in the last 24 hours, government data shows. Some 24,661 people fought off Covid in this period while 336 people died of the illnesses. With this, the country’s total coronavirus cases shot to one crore, one lakh and 46 thousand with 1,47,092 deaths, so far. Country’s active coronavirus cases – or those still receiving medical attention – dropped further to 2.81 lakh. Kerala, the country’s worst-hit state with more than 63,000 active Covid cases, has moved the Supreme Court against the High Court’s order which increased the number of devotees allowed to enter Sabarimala temple to 5,000 per day. The state has quoted central government guidelines and possible spread of UK’s coronavirus mutation to restrict daily visitors to 2,000 during pilgrimage season. In the last 24 hours, the state recorded 5,177 new infections with 22 deaths. In the past day, most Covid-related deaths were seen i

Singapore received Asia’s first delivery of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine on Monday, capping what the city-state’s premier said had been a “long and arduous” year spent fighting the pandemic. The trade and finance hub last week joined a handful of other countries around the world, including Britain and the United States, which have approved the jab. It plans to innoculate its 5.7 million people by the third quarter of 2021, with priority given to health workers, the elderly and the medically vulnerable. “Delighted to see the first shipment of vaccines arrive in Singapore,” Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong wrote on Facebook, after a Singapore Airlines flight carrying the vaccines landed from Belgium. “It’s been a long and arduous year, I hope that this news will give Singaporeans cheer this festive season, and reason to be optimistic for 2021.” Vaccination in Singapore will be voluntary, but Lee has strongly encouraged people to get take part in the campaign. The Pfizer vaccine

To check the spread of a new, more infectious strain of coronavirus detected in the United Kingdom, the Delhi government on Tuesday said it would trace all passengers who have arrived here from the country over the past 2 weeks, check them for COVID-19 symptoms, and test if needed. “Starting today, the Delhi government will conduct door-to-door survey of all those who have arrived in the city from the UK over the past two weeks,” Health Minister Satyendar Jain told NDTV on being asked about the government’s preparedness to check spread of the mutation in Delhi, where active cases have dropped to below the 10,000-mark after weeks of record infections and deaths amid a third wave of COVID-19. “Many passengers just land in Delhi and then go to other states, like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana; this number could be as high as 6,000-7,000. We will do a health check of those who are in the city,” he said. We will advise passengers from UK to ensure they self-isolate for at least a week,

India will produce about 300 million doses of Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccines next year, a Russian official was quoted as saying, nearly three times the previously known number as deals have been signed with more manufacturers. Russia is already testing the first samples of Sputnik V that were produced in India, its embassy in New Delhi said on Twitter on Friday, sharing a news story in which their vaccine czar Kirill Dmitriev was quoted. “In India, we have agreements with four large manufacturers,” Dmitriev, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) told Rossiya 24 TV, according to news agency TASS. “India will produce about 300 million doses or more of the vaccine for us next year.” India is the world’s biggest vaccine maker, and the pharmaceutical industry is freeing up capacity and accelerating investments ahead of the global rush for COVID-19 shots. Hetero Biopharma has already announced a deal with the RDIF to make more than 100 million doses of Sputnik V, who

India will have to spend $1.4 billion to $1.8 billion in the first phase of a coronavirus vaccination programme, even after getting support under the COVAX global vaccine-sharing scheme, according to estimates by the GAVI vaccines alliance. India, which has the world’s second highest caseload of coronavirus behind the United States, plans to inoculate 300 million people over the next six to eight months, likely with vaccines from AstraZeneca, Russia’s Sputnik, Zydus Cadila and India’s own Bharat Biotech. Documents reviewed by Reuters underline the scale of the funding challenge India faces to immunise its vast population, with 600 million shots required in the first wave alone for critical workers and people most at risk from COVID-19. If India got 190-250 million shots of the vaccine under the COVAX facility – a best case scenario – then the government would need to line up about $1.4 billion to make up for the shortfall, according to an unpublished report prepared for GAVI’s three-da

Singapore has approved Pfizer-BioNTech’s novel coronavirus vaccine and expects delivery of the first shots by the end of December, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Monday. The city-state of 5.7 million people expects to have enough vaccines for everyone by the third quarter of 2021 and will make it free for citizens and long-term residents, Lee said. While vaccination will be voluntary, Lee said he and other government officials would be among the early recipients along with healthcare workers, other front-line personnel, the elderly and the vulnerable. “My colleagues and I, including the older ones, will be getting ourselves vaccinated early. This is to show you, especially seniors like me, that we believe the vaccines are safe,” Lee said in a national broadcast.

Britain’s AstraZeneca said on Friday it would investigate combining its experimental COVID-19 vaccine with Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine candidate, a move Russian scientists have suggested could sharply boost efficacy. The developers of Sputnik V suggested on Twitter last month that AstraZeneca try the combination. “Sputnik V is happy to share one of its two human adenoviral vectors with AstraZeneca to increase the efficacy of (the) AstraZeneca vaccine. Using two different vectors for two vaccine shots will result in higher efficacy than using the same vector for two shots,” they said on Nov. 23. In its statement on Friday, AstraZeneca said it was considering how it could assess combinations of different vaccines, and would soon begin exploring with Russia’s Gamaleya Institute, which developed Sputnik V, whether two common cold virus-based vaccines could be successfully combined. Data published in a journal this week showed that AstraZeneca’s vaccine, being developed along with The Univer

An expert committee convened by the US Food and Drug Administration voted heavily in favor of recommending the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use approval on Thursday. The final voting tally was 17 in favor, four against and one abstention. The committee was tasked with answering whether, “based on the totality of scientific evidence available, do the benefits of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine outweigh its risk for use in individuals 16 years of age and older?” The vote by the independent experts and researchers, including infectious disease specialists, biostatisticians and other scientists, isn’t binding but the FDA is expected to follow the recommendation within the coming days. Britain, Canada, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia have already approved the vaccine, the first in the world to complete a large-scale, phase 3 clinical trial. Russian and Chinese vaccines are already being administered on a large scale, but without having completed comparable clinical trials. T

India recorded 26,567 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, taking the total number of active coronavirus cases in the country to 3,83,866, said the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday. With 39,045 new recoveries, the number of overall recovered COVID-19 patients stand at 91,78,946, pushing the recovery rate to 94.59 per cent. The overall COVID-19 cases reached 967,03,770, including 3,83,866 active cases and 91,78,946 recoveries. With 385 new deaths, the casualties mounted to 1,40,958.

Britain is hoping that millions of doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine will be delivered by the end of the year but the total will depend on how quickly it can be manufactured, UK’s business minister Alok Sharma said on Friday. The UK approved Pfizer Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, jumping ahead of the rest of the world in the race to begin the most crucial mass inoculation programme in history. Last month, Britain said it expected 10 million doses of the shot in 2020, but the government has said the pace of rollout will be dependent on delivery. It has ordered 40 million doses in all, enough to vaccinate 20 million people. Sharma said he was confident the first batch of 800,000 doses would be in place to begin rollout next week, but would not give an exact figure on how much Britain would get before the end of the month.

Britain is hoping that millions of doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine will be delivered by the end of the year but the total will depend on how quickly it can be manufactured, UK’s business minister Alok Sharma said on Friday. The UK approved Pfizer Inc’s COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday, jumping ahead of the rest of the world in the race to begin the most crucial mass inoculation programme in history. Last month, Britain said it expected 10 million doses of the shot in 2020, but the government has said the pace of rollout will be dependent on delivery. It has ordered 40 million doses in all, enough to vaccinate 20 million people. Sharma said he was confident the first batch of 800,000 doses would be in place to begin rollout next week, but would not give an exact figure on how much Britain would get before the end of the month. “We are starting initially with 800,000 and then let’s see where we end up by the end of the year in terms of the numbers that we acquire. That will de

Britain’s AstraZeneca said on Monday its vaccine for the novel coronavirus could be around 90% effective without any serious side effects, giving the world another important tool to halt the COVID-19 pandemic. The combined analysis from both dosing regimens resulted in an average efficacy of 70%. The vaccine developed by Oxford University was 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 when it was administered as a half dose followed by a full dose at least one month apart, according to data from the late-stage trials in Britain and Brazil. No serious safety events related to the vaccine have been confirmed and it was well tolerated across both dosing regimens, it said. “This vaccine’s efficacy and safety confirm that it will be highly effective against COVID-19 and will have an immediate impact on this public health emergency,” Pascal Soriot, Astra’s chief executive, said in a statement. The Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest manufacturer of vaccines by volume, has partnered with