NEW DELHI: India on Monday reported 46,148 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of Covid-19 cases to 3,02,79,331, while daily fatalities were recorded below 1000, taking the death toll to 3,96,730.
The country registered 979 fresh fatalities due to Covid-19 in a day, the lowest in 76 days.
Here’s India Covid roundup-No scientific data so far to show Delta plus variant adversely impacts vaccine efficacy: VK PaulIt will be unfair to put a date for any Covidwave as the behaviour of coronavirus is unpredictable and a disciplined and effective pandemic response can help the country get away from any significant outbreak, Covid Task Force chief V K Paul said on Monday.
Amid rising concerns over the Delta plus variant of the virus, 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 to 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.
Delayed doses of AstraZeneca jab boost immunity: studyDelayed second and third doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine boost immunity against Covid-19, a study by Oxford University, which developed the jab with the British-Swedish firm, said on Monday.
An interval of up to 45 weeks between the first and second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine led to an enhanced immune response, rather than compromising immunity, the study said.
Giving a third dose of the jab more than six months after the second dose also leads to a “substantial increase” in antibodies and induces a “strong boost” to subjects’ immune response, said the pre-print study, meaning that it has yet to be peer-reviewed.
“This should come as reassuring news to countries with lower supplies of the vaccine, who may be concerned about delays in providing second doses to their populations,” said lead investigator of the Oxford trial Andrew Pollard.
“There is an excellent response to a second dose, even after a 10-month delay from the first.” Immune response of AstraZeneca shot boosted by mixing dose schedule with Pfizer: StudyA mixed schedule of vaccines where a shot of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine is given four weeks after a AstraZeneca shot will produce better immune responses than giving another dose of the AstraZeneca shot, an Oxford study said on Monday.
The study, called Com-COV, compared mixed two-dose schedules of Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines, and found that in any combination, they produced high concentrations of antibodies against the coronavirus spike protein.
India overtakes US in Covid vaccinationIndia has achieved another milestone in its ongoing Covid-19 vaccination drive by overtaking the US in terms of total number of doses administered so far, securing highest position among top six countries of the world.
India has so far administered Covid vaccine doses to 32,36,63,297 people while the number of people inoculated so far in the US are 32,33,27,328.
If compared to the timeline, India’s Covid vaccination drive started on January 16 this year almost one month after the similar exercise was started by the US on December 14 last year.
India’s cumulative vaccination coverage has exceeded 32.36 crores on Sunday.
A total of 32,36,63,297 vaccine doses have been administered through 43,21,898 sessions, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) citing provisional report received till 7 a.m.
on Monday.
The Ministry said that 17,21,268 vaccine doses were administered in the last 24 hours.
40,845 cases of black fungus reported in India so far: VardhanA 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 per vent) of those infected were on steroids.
Delhi reports 59 fresh Covid-19 cases, lowest daily rise so far this yearThe national capital reported 59 cases of Covid-19, the lowest this year so far, and two deaths on Monday, according to data shared by the health department here.
The case positivity rate has dipped to 0.10 per cent.
On Sunday, Delhi reported 89 cases with a positivity rate of 0.12 per cent, and 4 deaths.
India to share Covidvax technology with 50 countries ‘free of cost’India is all set to share ‘free of cost’ its Covid-19 vaccination technology with more than 50 countries from Latin America, Africa and Asia.
CEO of National Health Authority Dr R.S.
Sharma made the revelation while addressing the 2nd Public Health Summit 2021 organized by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here.
Sharma said that CoWIN portal for vaccination is unique in the world in terms of portability, scalability and inclusivity and it is a citizen-centric platform, and that 300 million plus registrations and vaccinations with granular details of each individual are available on the portal with a very simple process of registration.
Over 50 per cent of Mumbai children have Covid-19 antibodies as per sero survey: BMC A paediatric sero-survey conducted before the anticipated third wave of the pandemic has revealed that 51.18% of children between 1 to 18 years in Mumbai have developed antibodies against coronavirus, the city civic body said on Monday.
A total of 2,176 blood samples were tested for this study conducted between April and June, it said.
The survey conducted by the civic-run BYL Nair Hospital and Kasturba Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory (KMDL) also revealed that the proportion of the pediatric population having antibodies has increased compared to the earlier sero-survey, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said in a release.
Covidrelief: Measures worth over Rs 6 lakh cr announced The Centre on Monday extended liquidity support to various stressed sectors of India Inc as well as micro credit borrowers and export oriented industries.
Accordingly, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced eight relief measures worth Rs 6,28,993 crore.
These measures entail enhancement of existing relief schemes such as ECGLS and support for state governments.
Besides, a total of four new measures were announced to provide loans to micro credit borrowers as well as tourism industry.
Further, Sitharaman announced Rs 50,000 crore guaranteed loan for creation of medical infrastructure.
Serum Institute asks govt to take up inclusion of Covishield in EU vaccination passport Serum Institute of India (SII) has urged the government to take up inclusion of Covishield in the EU Covid-19 Vaccination Passport with the European Union and other countries, saying if not done it will affect students and business travellers, and disrupt the Indian and global economy.
Only four vaccines — Comirnaty of Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Vaxzervria by AstraZeneca-Oxford and, Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen — have been approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Only those inoculated with these vaccines will be given vaccination passports and allowed to travel within the EU during the pandemic.