Commerce and Industry Minister of India Piyush Goyal said on Thursday that 57 countries across the globe have supported proposal spearheaded by India and South Africa for COVID vaccine Intellectual Property Rights waiver. The proposal was submitted by India and SA last year, at World Trade Organisation (WTO).

57 countries have already joined India's leadership in demanding Intellectual Property Waiver for COVID-19 vaccine. Leaders everywhere are rising up to the challenge and joining PM Narendra Modi ji's call for affordable health for the entire world," he tweeted.

"World cannot continue to engage in endless discussions while millions of lives &amp; livelihoods are lost. Intellectual Property waiver on COVID-19 medicine provides an opportunity to rejuvenate the world. Hope the world leaders join India in that effort," he added.

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57 countries have already joined India's leadership in demanding Intellectual Property Waiver for COVID-19 vaccine. Leaders everywhere are rising up to the challenge and joining PM <a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NarendraModi</a> ji’s call for affordable health for the entire world. <a href="https://t.co/iAajcP9r6B">pic.twitter.com/iAajcP9r6B</a>
— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) <a href="https://twitter.com/PiyushGoyal/status/1364832672011362308?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 25, 2021</a></blockquote>
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The joint demand put forth by India and South Africa has found stiff opposition from western countries but has also found support from prominent power corridors.

114 European Union Parliamentarians or MEPs have already issued declaration and have called on the bloc to support the proposal of IPR waiver for coronavirus vaccine.

The declaration said, "EU’s open opposition to the TRIPS waiver risks exacerbating a dangerous North-South divide when it comes to affordable access to COVID-19 diagnostics, personal protective equipment, treatments, and vaccines."

Pointing out to the need for an IPR waiver, it said, "WTO decision on a potential waiver offers a crucial and much-needed act of effective solidarity as it is an important step towards increasing local production in partner countries and, ultimately, suppressing this pandemic on a global scale."

European Council is due to meet on Thursday (February 25).

Commerce and Industry Minister of India Piyush Goyal said on Thursday that 57 countries across the globe have supported proposal spearheaded by India and South Africa for COVID vaccine Intellectual Property Rights waiver.

Commerce and Industry Minister of India Piyush Goyal said on Thursday that 57 countries across the globe have supported proposal spearheaded by India and South Africa for COVID vaccine Intellectual Property Rights waiver. The proposal was submitted by India and SA last year, at World Trade Organisation (WTO). 57 countries have already joined India's leadership in demanding Intellectual Property Waiver for COVID-19 vaccine. Leaders everywhere are rising up to the challenge and joining PM Narendra Modi ji's call for affordable health for the entire world," he tweeted. "World cannot continue to engage in endless discussions while millions of lives & livelihoods are lost. Intellectual Property waiver on COVID-19 medicine provides an opportunity to rejuvenate the world. Hope the world leaders join India in that effort," he added. 57 countries have already joined India's leadership in demanding Intellectual Property Waiver for COVID-19 vaccine. Leaders everywhere are rising up to the challenge and joining PM @NarendraModi ji’s call for affordable health for the entire world. pic.twitter.com/iAajcP9r6B — Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) February 25, 2021 × The joint demand put forth by India and South Africa has found stiff opposition from western countries but has also found support from prominent power corridors. 114 European Union Parliamentarians or MEPs have already issued declaration and have called on the bloc to support the proposal of IPR waiver for coronavirus vaccine. The declaration said, "EU’s open opposition to the TRIPS waiver risks exacerbating a dangerous North-South divide when it comes to affordable access to COVID-19 diagnostics, personal protective equipment, treatments, and vaccines." Pointing out to the need for an IPR waiver, it said, "WTO decision on a potential waiver offers a crucial and much-needed act of effective solidarity as it is an important step towards increasing local production in partner countries and, ultimately, suppressing this pandemic on a global scale." European Council is due to meet on Thursday (February 25).

57 countries join India on COVID vaccine IPR waiver: Indian minister

Since last year, India and South Africa have been pushing for a ban on vaccine patents. Only to be stonewalled by the rich countries. A last-ditch attempt is now underway to unlock the vaccine patents.

The fight for Covid-19 vaccine patents rages on

The single-shot Johnson and Johnson vaccine is highly effective in preventing severe Covid-19, including the South African and Brazil variants, new documents released by the US Food and Drug Administration have said.

In large clinical trials, the vaccine efficacy against severe disease was&nbsp;85.9 per cent in the United States, 81.7 per cent in South Africa, and 87.6 per cent in Brazil.

An independent panel of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will meet to discuss its merits on Friday and an emergency use authorisation is likely to follow soon after.

That would bring a third vaccine into the fight against the outbreak in the United States, the world's hardest-hit country where more than 500,000 people have lost their lives.

"The vaccine was effective in preventing COVID-19 using a less restrictive definition of the disease and for more severe disease, including COVID-19 requiring medical intervention, considering all cases starting 14 days after vaccination," the new FDA summary said.

"Although a lower efficacy overall was observed in South Africa, where there was a predominance of B.1.3.5 lineage during the time period of this study, vaccine efficacy against severe/critical COVID-19 was similarly high across the United States, South Africa, and Brazil."

The J&amp;J vaccine uses a common-cold causing adenovirus, which has been modified so that it can't replicate, to carry the gene for a key protein of the coronavirus into human cells.&nbsp;This makes those cells produce that protein, which in turn trains the human immune system.

The fact that it requires only one dose, and that it can be stored at fridge temperature rather than in freezers like the Pfizer and Moderna shots, gives it an operational advantage.

The vaccine was effective in reducing the risk of Covid-19 and preventing PCR-test confirmed COVID-19 at least 14 days after vaccination, the FDA said in its briefing documents.

J&amp;J tested its single-dose option in 44,000 people in the US, Latin America and South Africa. Because different mutated versions of the virus are circulating in different countries, researchers analysed the results geographically.&nbsp;

(with inputs from agencies)

The single-shot Johnson and Johnson vaccine is highly effective in preventing severe Covid-19, including the South African and Brazil variants, new documents released by the US Food and Drug Administration have said.

The single-shot Johnson and Johnson vaccine is highly effective in preventing severe Covid-19, including the South African and Brazil variants, new documents released by the US Food and Drug Administration have said. In large clinical trials, the vaccine efficacy against severe disease was 85.9 per cent in the United States, 81.7 per cent in South Africa, and 87.6 per cent in Brazil. An independent panel of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will meet to discuss its merits on Friday and an emergency use authorisation is likely to follow soon after. That would bring a third vaccine into the fight against the outbreak in the United States, the world's hardest-hit country where more than 500,000 people have lost their lives. "The vaccine was effective in preventing COVID-19 using a less restrictive definition of the disease and for more severe disease, including COVID-19 requiring medical intervention, considering all cases starting 14 days after vaccination," the new FDA summary said. "Although a lower efficacy overall was observed in South Africa, where there was a predominance of B.1.3.5 lineage during the time period of this study, vaccine efficacy against severe/critical COVID-19 was similarly high across the United States, South Africa, and Brazil." The J&J vaccine uses a common-cold causing adenovirus, which has been modified so that it can't replicate, to carry the gene for a key protein of the coronavirus into human cells. This makes those cells produce that protein, which in turn trains the human immune system. The fact that it requires only one dose, and that it can be stored at fridge temperature rather than in freezers like the Pfizer and Moderna shots, gives it an operational advantage. The vaccine was effective in reducing the risk of Covid-19 and preventing PCR-test confirmed COVID-19 at least 14 days after vaccination, the FDA said in its briefing documents. J&J tested its single-dose option in 44,000 people in the US, Latin America and South Africa. Because different mutated versions of the virus are circulating in different countries, researchers analysed the results geographically. (with inputs from agencies)

Johnson & Johnson Covid vaccine poised for FDA decision

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has insisted that new problems dogging the supply of AstraZeneca's vaccines can be resolved, after the group admitted it could deliver only half the expected amount to the bloc in the second quarter.

AstraZeneca said Tuesday its EU supply chains would only be able to deliver half of an expected supply of Covid-19 vaccines to the bloc in the second quarter -- but that it would look to make up the shortfall from elsewhere.

"The vaccine manufacturers are our partners in this pandemic and they have also never faced such a challenge," she told the German regional daily Augsburger Allgemeine.

"New questions are always arising that we can generally resolve amicably," she said on the eve of a virtual EU summit on the response to the Covid-19 pandemic.&nbsp;

Von der Leyen added that she advocated "working together with the companies to ensure global production is improved".

Meanwhile, reports have said AstraZeneca was "working to increase productivity in its EU supply chain" and would use its "global capability in order to achieve delivery of 180 million doses to the EU in the second quarter".&nbsp;

Approximately half of the expected volume is due to come from the EU supply chain while the remainder would come from its international supply network.

The announcement follows controversy over deliveries of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University jab to the European Union in the first quarter, which has caused tension between the bloc and the pharmaceutical company.

The UK government has vaccinated millions of Britons with the AstraZeneca jab since late last year.&nbsp;But the company&nbsp;only began shipping it to the EU in early February, after the bloc's drug regulator took its time over recommending its use.

Ahead of the EU's approval of the vaccine at the end of January, the company sparked fury among European leaders by announcing that it would miss its target of supplying the EU with 400 million doses, due to a shortfall at the firm's European plants.

The disagreement also caused diplomatic tensions with Britain, which definitively left the EU after 40 years of membership following a transmission period at the end of 2020 -- with Brussels implicitly accusing AstraZeneca of giving preferential treatment to Britain at the expense of the EU.

(with inputs from agencies)

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has insisted that new problems dogging the supply of AstraZeneca's vaccines can be resolved, after the group admitted it could deliver only half the expected amount to the bloc in the second quarter.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has insisted that new problems dogging the supply of AstraZeneca's vaccines can be resolved, after the group admitted it could deliver only half the expected amount to the bloc in the second quarter. AstraZeneca said Tuesday its EU supply chains would only be able to deliver half of an expected supply of Covid-19 vaccines to the bloc in the second quarter -- but that it would look to make up the shortfall from elsewhere. "The vaccine manufacturers are our partners in this pandemic and they have also never faced such a challenge," she told the German regional daily Augsburger Allgemeine. "New questions are always arising that we can generally resolve amicably," she said on the eve of a virtual EU summit on the response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Von der Leyen added that she advocated "working together with the companies to ensure global production is improved". Meanwhile, reports have said AstraZeneca was "working to increase productivity in its EU supply chain" and would use its "global capability in order to achieve delivery of 180 million doses to the EU in the second quarter". Approximately half of the expected volume is due to come from the EU supply chain while the remainder would come from its international supply network. The announcement follows controversy over deliveries of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University jab to the European Union in the first quarter, which has caused tension between the bloc and the pharmaceutical company. The UK government has vaccinated millions of Britons with the AstraZeneca jab since late last year. But the company only began shipping it to the EU in early February, after the bloc's drug regulator took its time over recommending its use. Ahead of the EU's approval of the vaccine at the end of January, the company sparked fury among European leaders by announcing that it would miss its target of supplying the EU with 400 million doses, due to a shortfall at the firm's European plants. The disagreement also caused diplomatic tensions with Britain, which definitively left the EU after 40 years of membership following a transmission period at the end of 2020 -- with Brussels implicitly accusing AstraZeneca of giving preferential treatment to Britain at the expense of the EU. (with inputs from agencies)

AstraZeneca admits new delays, EU chief seeks 'amicable' solution

UK PM Boris Johnson said on Saturday that Britain planned to offer first shot of coronavirus vaccine to all adults by end of July. His comments came ahead of a planned announcement on cautious reopening of the economy. Johnson will set out a roadmap to ease England's third national lockdown on Monday, having met a target to vaccinate 15 million Britons from higher-risk categories by mid-February.

Britain aims now to give first dose of the vaccine to all adults aged 50 and above by April 15. The government had previously said that it planned to achieve this by May.&nbsp;

If all adults receive a dose by the end of July, it will be well ahead of a previous target that they would receive a vaccine by autumn.

UK has suffered fifth-highest COVID death toll in the world. Johnson's government has moved faster than much of the West to secure vaccine supplies, giving it a head start.

Johnson advised against complacency.

"We will now aim to offer a jab to every adult by the end of July, helping us the most vulnerable sooner, and take further steps to ease some of the restrictions in place," Johnson said in a statement. &nbsp;

"But there should be no doubt - the route out of lockdown will be cautious and phased, as we all continue to protect ourselves and those around us."

So far, he United Kingdom has given the first dose of vaccine to 17.2 million people, over a quarter of its 67 million population and behind only Israel and the United Arab Emirates in vaccines per head of population.

Two vaccines - one made by Pfizer and BioNTech, and another developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca - are being rolled out, and UK officials have advised that there can be a 12 week gap between doses.

(With Reuters inputs)

UK PM Boris Johnson said on Saturday that Britain planned to offer first shot of coronavirus vaccine to all adults by end of July. His comments came ahead of a planned announcement on cautious reopening of the economy.

UK PM Boris Johnson said on Saturday that Britain planned to offer first shot of coronavirus vaccine to all adults by end of July. His comments came ahead of a planned announcement on cautious reopening of the economy. Johnson will set out a roadmap to ease England's third national lockdown on Monday, having met a target to vaccinate 15 million Britons from higher-risk categories by mid-February. Britain aims now to give first dose of the vaccine to all adults aged 50 and above by April 15. The government had previously said that it planned to achieve this by May. If all adults receive a dose by the end of July, it will be well ahead of a previous target that they would receive a vaccine by autumn. UK has suffered fifth-highest COVID death toll in the world. Johnson's government has moved faster than much of the West to secure vaccine supplies, giving it a head start. Johnson advised against complacency. "We will now aim to offer a jab to every adult by the end of July, helping us the most vulnerable sooner, and take further steps to ease some of the restrictions in place," Johnson said in a statement. "But there should be no doubt - the route out of lockdown will be cautious and phased, as we all continue to protect ourselves and those around us." So far, he United Kingdom has given the first dose of vaccine to 17.2 million people, over a quarter of its 67 million population and behind only Israel and the United Arab Emirates in vaccines per head of population. Two vaccines - one made by Pfizer and BioNTech, and another developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca - are being rolled out, and UK officials have advised that there can be a 12 week gap between doses. (With Reuters inputs)

COVID-19: Britain aims to vaccinate all adults by July end

Forty homeless people in Saint Petersburg received coronavirus vaccine jabs on Sunday, under a charity initiative that has &nbsp;received the backing of local officials.

"Here there are many people at risk. It is important for them to be vaccinated," said Taysia Suvorova, of the Nochlezhka non-governmental that &nbsp;organisation provides aid to the homeless in Russia's second city.

The 40 people receiving the vaccine are currently housed by the charity.

According to official figures there are 15,000 homeless people in the former imperial capital, out of a total population of five million.

Nochlezhka believes the real figure is at least double that.

"Some people have been saying controversial things about the vaccine, but I think there are more advantages than negatives," 57-year-old Galina Ivanovna told AFP, after receiving the first dose of the vaccine.

"I'm pretty happy to do it," she added.

Fellow recipient Aleksandr Suvorov, 60, echoed her sentiment, adding that the vaccine was a good thing "because the situation is complicated with coronavirus".

An NGO has already launched a similar initiative for the homeless in Moscow, aided by the authorities in the Russian capital.

Russia registered its first coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V, back in August.

A second Russian vaccine , EpiVacCorona, was approved in October 2020. The country officially launched its programme of mass vaccinations in January.

On Saturday Russia announced the registration of its third coronavirus vaccine Kovivak.

According to official figures, 4.6 million coronavirus cases have been registered in Russia, 83,293 of wich have proved fatal.

Forty homeless people in Saint Petersburg received coronavirus vaccine jabs on Sunday, under a charity initiative that has received the backing of local officials.

Forty homeless people in Saint Petersburg received coronavirus vaccine jabs on Sunday, under a charity initiative that has received the backing of local officials. "Here there are many people at risk. It is important for them to be vaccinated," said Taysia Suvorova, of the Nochlezhka non-governmental that organisation provides aid to the homeless in Russia's second city. The 40 people receiving the vaccine are currently housed by the charity. According to official figures there are 15,000 homeless people in the former imperial capital, out of a total population of five million. Nochlezhka believes the real figure is at least double that. "Some people have been saying controversial things about the vaccine, but I think there are more advantages than negatives," 57-year-old Galina Ivanovna told AFP, after receiving the first dose of the vaccine. "I'm pretty happy to do it," she added. Fellow recipient Aleksandr Suvorov, 60, echoed her sentiment, adding that the vaccine was a good thing "because the situation is complicated with coronavirus". An NGO has already launched a similar initiative for the homeless in Moscow, aided by the authorities in the Russian capital. Russia registered its first coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V, back in August. A second Russian vaccine , EpiVacCorona, was approved in October 2020. The country officially launched its programme of mass vaccinations in January. On Saturday Russia announced the registration of its third coronavirus vaccine Kovivak. According to official figures, 4.6 million coronavirus cases have been registered in Russia, 83,293 of wich have proved fatal.

Russia starts giving Covid vaccine to homeless

China has approved as many as 16 indigenous Covid vaccines for clinical trials. Of these vaccines, six are in the third stage of trials.

The latest vaccines for clinical trials are based on recombinant protein, adenovirus vector, nucleic acid and attenuated influenza-viruses technologies, state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.

China has already given conditional approval to two inactivated COVID-19 vaccines made by state-owned developers -- Sinopharm and Sinovac Biotech.

As of February 9, China has given 40.52 million COVID-19 jabs to key groups, Xinhua reported, quoting a National Health Commission official.&nbsp;

The coronavirus has claimed 4,833 lives, along with 100,727 confirmed cases in China.

China has approved as many as 16 indigenous Covid vaccines for clinical trials. Of these vaccines, six are in the third stage of trials. The latest vaccines for clinical trials are based on recombinant protein, adenovirus vector, nucleic acid and attenuated influenza-viruses technologies, state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.

China has approved as many as 16 indigenous Covid vaccines for clinical trials. Of these vaccines, six are in the third stage of trials. The latest vaccines for clinical trials are based on recombinant protein, adenovirus vector, nucleic acid and attenuated influenza-viruses technologies, state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday. China has already given conditional approval to two inactivated COVID-19 vaccines made by state-owned developers -- Sinopharm and Sinovac Biotech. As of February 9, China has given 40.52 million COVID-19 jabs to key groups, Xinhua reported, quoting a National Health Commission official. The coronavirus has claimed 4,833 lives, along with 100,727 confirmed cases in China.

China approves 16 locally-made Covid vaccines for clinical trials

US President Joe Biden has reassured Americans that Covid vaccine shots are safe, and hold the key to beating the coronavirus pandemic.

The Democratic president on Friday visited a Pfizer factory manufacturing coronavirus vaccines -- at record speed -- in response to the global health crisis.

"The vaccines are safe. Please, for yourself, your family, your community, this country, take the vaccine when it's your turn and it's available. That's how we beat this pandemic," he said, against a backdrop of Pfizer's gleaming manufacturing equipment at the Michigan facility.

Biden said companies making the vaccines are "fastidious" and "it takes more time to do the check for safety than it does to make the vaccine. That's how fastidious they are."

"If there's one message to cut through to everyone in the country, it's this: Vaccines are safe," he added.

Biden said the programme to deliver the vaccines into people's arms is as complicated as the already intense challenges of manufacturing in huge quantities at speed.

"There has never, ever, ever been a logistical challenge as consequential as what we're trying to do, but we're getting it done," he said.&nbsp;

According to Biden, his goal of administering a million shots a day for a total of 100 million in the first 100 days of his presidency is on track to be easily surpassed, with a current average of 1.7 million vaccines a day.

Biden said that 600 million doses -- enough to cover most of the country -- were expected to be ready by the end of July.

"I believe we'll be approaching normalcy by the end of this year. God willing, this Christmas will be different to last, but I can't make that commitment," he said.

Meanwhile, the death toll is set soon to pass 500,000 in the United States.

US President Joe Biden has reassured Americans that Covid vaccine shots are safe, and hold the key to beating the coronavirus pandemic. The Democratic president on Friday visited a Pfizer factory manufacturing coronavirus vaccines -- at record speed -- in response to the global health crisis.

US President Joe Biden has reassured Americans that Covid vaccine shots are safe, and hold the key to beating the coronavirus pandemic. The Democratic president on Friday visited a Pfizer factory manufacturing coronavirus vaccines -- at record speed -- in response to the global health crisis. "The vaccines are safe. Please, for yourself, your family, your community, this country, take the vaccine when it's your turn and it's available. That's how we beat this pandemic," he said, against a backdrop of Pfizer's gleaming manufacturing equipment at the Michigan facility. Biden said companies making the vaccines are "fastidious" and "it takes more time to do the check for safety than it does to make the vaccine. That's how fastidious they are." "If there's one message to cut through to everyone in the country, it's this: Vaccines are safe," he added. Biden said the programme to deliver the vaccines into people's arms is as complicated as the already intense challenges of manufacturing in huge quantities at speed. "There has never, ever, ever been a logistical challenge as consequential as what we're trying to do, but we're getting it done," he said. According to Biden, his goal of administering a million shots a day for a total of 100 million in the first 100 days of his presidency is on track to be easily surpassed, with a current average of 1.7 million vaccines a day. Biden said that 600 million doses -- enough to cover most of the country -- were expected to be ready by the end of July. "I believe we'll be approaching normalcy by the end of this year. God willing, this Christmas will be different to last, but I can't make that commitment," he said. Meanwhile, the death toll is set soon to pass 500,000 in the United States.

Biden reassures Americans Covid vaccines are safe

AstraZeneca is going to manufacture in Japan COVID vaccine doses enough for 40 million people, said executive director of the Japanese arm of the firm. The company told NHK that AstraZeneca had signed contract with Japan to provide it doses for 60 million people.

The doses for 40 million people will be produced at JCR Pharmaceuticals company in the prefecture of Hyogo.

The vaccination campaign in Japan started on February 17. Pfizer remains the only authorized vaccine against the coronavirus in Japan. AstraZeneca submitted documents for the registration in Japan on February 17.

The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11.&nbsp;

To date, more than 110.68 million people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, with over 2.45 million fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University. Japan has confirmed more than 422,000 COVID-19 cases so far, with over 7,300 fatalities.

(With ANI inputs)

AstraZeneca is going to manufacture in Japan COVID vaccine doses enough for 40 million people, said executive director of the Japanese arm of the firm. The company told NHK that AstraZeneca had signed contract with Japan to provide it doses for 60 million people.

AstraZeneca is going to manufacture in Japan COVID vaccine doses enough for 40 million people, said executive director of the Japanese arm of the firm. The company told NHK that AstraZeneca had signed contract with Japan to provide it doses for 60 million people. The doses for 40 million people will be produced at JCR Pharmaceuticals company in the prefecture of Hyogo. The vaccination campaign in Japan started on February 17. Pfizer remains the only authorized vaccine against the coronavirus in Japan. AstraZeneca submitted documents for the registration in Japan on February 17. The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11. To date, more than 110.68 million people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, with over 2.45 million fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University. Japan has confirmed more than 422,000 COVID-19 cases so far, with over 7,300 fatalities. (With ANI inputs)

AstraZeneca to manufacture COVID vaccine doses in Japan for 40 million people

The world is divided between vaccine haves and have-nots. 75% of all vaccines have been administered in 10 countries. But 130 countries haven't received even a single dose. WION's Palki Sharma tells you how the world could take a leaf from India's playbook.

Gravitas: The world is struggling with vaccine inequality

A 90-year-old American woman trudged six miles in a foot of snow with two walking sticks to get her coronavirus vaccination.

Fran Goldman, of Seattle, had been trying frantically to get an appointment for her first shot, working the phones every day in vain, reports said.

When she finally got one for last Sunday, Goldman was determined to keep her appointment -- several inches of snow on the ground be damned, according to the Seattle Times.

The weather made driving to the hospital where she arranged the shot unadvisable.

The day before, Goldman did a sort of trial run, walking most of the three-mile trek to the hospital.&nbsp;

On Sunday she bundled up, put on boots, grabbed two walking sticks and set out to get vaccinated. Goldman underwent hip replacement surgery last year.

"It was not easy going, it was challenging," Goldman told the paper of her winter hike.&nbsp;

She got to her appointment just five minutes late.

Goldman's daughter Ruth said she is a tough lady.

"My mother isn't going to let a little snow stop her from getting the vaccine," the younger Goldman said.

"She was willing to walk however many miles there and back to get it," she told the Seattle Times.

"She is a really remarkable person who has the attitude of 'You don’t let a little adversity get in your way.'"

A 90-year-old American woman trudged six miles in a foot of snow with two walking sticks to get her coronavirus vaccination. Fran Goldman, of Seattle, had been trying frantically to get an appointment for her first shot, working the phones every day in vain, reports said.

A 90-year-old American woman trudged six miles in a foot of snow with two walking sticks to get her coronavirus vaccination. Fran Goldman, of Seattle, had been trying frantically to get an appointment for her first shot, working the phones every day in vain, reports said. When she finally got one for last Sunday, Goldman was determined to keep her appointment -- several inches of snow on the ground be damned, according to the Seattle Times. The weather made driving to the hospital where she arranged the shot unadvisable. The day before, Goldman did a sort of trial run, walking most of the three-mile trek to the hospital. On Sunday she bundled up, put on boots, grabbed two walking sticks and set out to get vaccinated. Goldman underwent hip replacement surgery last year. "It was not easy going, it was challenging," Goldman told the paper of her winter hike. She got to her appointment just five minutes late. Goldman's daughter Ruth said she is a tough lady. "My mother isn't going to let a little snow stop her from getting the vaccine," the younger Goldman said. "She was willing to walk however many miles there and back to get it," she told the Seattle Times. "She is a really remarkable person who has the attitude of 'You don’t let a little adversity get in your way.'"

US woman, 90, treks miles in snow to get vaccinated

The White House has been reaching out to social media companies including Facebook, Twitter and Alphabet Inc’s Google about clamping down on COVID misinformation and getting their help to stop it from going viral, a senior administration official said.

President Joe Biden, who has raced to curb the pandemic since taking office, has made inoculating Americans one of his top priorities and called the move “a wartime effort.” But tackling public fear about taking the vaccine has emerged as a major impediment for the administration.

Since the onset of the pandemic, calls from lawmakers asking the companies to tackle the spread of COVID misinformation on their platforms have grown.

The White House’s direct engagement with the companies to mitigate the challenge has not been previously reported. Biden’s chief of staff Ron Klain has previously said the administration will try to work with Silicon Valley on the issue.

“Disinformation that causes vaccine hesitancy is going to be a huge obstacle to getting everyone vaccinated and there are no larger players in that than the social media platforms,” said the source, who has direct knowledge of the White House’s efforts.

“We are talking to them ... so they understand the importance of misinformation and disinformation and how they can get rid of it quickly.”

The Biden White House is especially trying to make sure such material “does not start trending on such platforms and become a broader movement,” the source said.

The source cited the example of the anti-vaccine protests at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles in early February, and said the White House wants to stop events like that from happening again.

The protest, organized on Facebook through a page that promotes debunked claims about the coronavirus pandemic, masks and immunization, briefly blocked public access to the stadium - one of the largest vaccination sites in the country, where health authorities are administering more than 8,000 vaccines a day.

The event illustrated the extent to which social media platforms have become a critical organizing tool for movements such as the anti-vaccine drive, that spread misinformation and disinformation.

A growing number of anti-vaccine activists, emboldened by their rising social media following, have helped the movement gain strength in the United States. A report by the Center for Countering Digital Health in July 2020 found social media accounts held by anti-vaxxers have increased their following by at least 7·8 million people since 2019.

The companies have repeatedly vowed to get rid of such material on their platforms but gaps remain in their enforcement efforts.

On Thursday, Senator Richard Blumenthal criticized the platforms in a tweet for carrying ads that he said funds and promotes “dangerous conspiracy theories, COVID-19 disinformation and malign foreign propaganda.”

A Facebook spokeswoman said that the company has reached out to the White House to offer “any assistance we can provide” and has recently announced a new policy to remove COVID and vaccine misinformation along with pages, groups, and accounts that repeatedly spread such material.

A Twitter spokesman said the company is “in regular communication with the White House on a number of critical issues including COVID-19 misinformation.”

Alphabet Inc’s Google did not comment on engagement with the White House, instead pointing to a company blog on and how it stops misinformation.

The source said the companies “were receptive” as they engaged with the White House. “But it is too soon to say whether or not it translates into lessening the spread of misinformation.”

There will be more details on how the White House is engaging with the social media companies on this issue in the “next ten days or so”, the source added.

The White House has been reaching out to social media companies including Facebook, Twitter and Alphabet Inc’s Google about clamping down on COVID misinformation and getting their help to stop it from going viral, a senior administration official said.

The White House has been reaching out to social media companies including Facebook, Twitter and Alphabet Inc’s Google about clamping down on COVID misinformation and getting their help to stop it from going viral, a senior administration official said. President Joe Biden, who has raced to curb the pandemic since taking office, has made inoculating Americans one of his top priorities and called the move “a wartime effort.” But tackling public fear about taking the vaccine has emerged as a major impediment for the administration. Since the onset of the pandemic, calls from lawmakers asking the companies to tackle the spread of COVID misinformation on their platforms have grown. The White House’s direct engagement with the companies to mitigate the challenge has not been previously reported. Biden’s chief of staff Ron Klain has previously said the administration will try to work with Silicon Valley on the issue. “Disinformation that causes vaccine hesitancy is going to be a huge obstacle to getting everyone vaccinated and there are no larger players in that than the social media platforms,” said the source, who has direct knowledge of the White House’s efforts. “We are talking to them ... so they understand the importance of misinformation and disinformation and how they can get rid of it quickly.” The Biden White House is especially trying to make sure such material “does not start trending on such platforms and become a broader movement,” the source said. The source cited the example of the anti-vaccine protests at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles in early February, and said the White House wants to stop events like that from happening again. The protest, organized on Facebook through a page that promotes debunked claims about the coronavirus pandemic, masks and immunization, briefly blocked public access to the stadium - one of the largest vaccination sites in the country, where health authorities are administering more than 8,000 vaccines a day. The event illustrated the extent to which social media platforms have become a critical organizing tool for movements such as the anti-vaccine drive, that spread misinformation and disinformation. A growing number of anti-vaccine activists, emboldened by their rising social media following, have helped the movement gain strength in the United States. A report by the Center for Countering Digital Health in July 2020 found social media accounts held by anti-vaxxers have increased their following by at least 7·8 million people since 2019. The companies have repeatedly vowed to get rid of such material on their platforms but gaps remain in their enforcement efforts. On Thursday, Senator Richard Blumenthal criticized the platforms in a tweet for carrying ads that he said funds and promotes “dangerous conspiracy theories, COVID-19 disinformation and malign foreign propaganda.” A Facebook spokeswoman said that the company has reached out to the White House to offer “any assistance we can provide” and has recently announced a new policy to remove COVID and vaccine misinformation along with pages, groups, and accounts that repeatedly spread such material. A Twitter spokesman said the company is “in regular communication with the White House on a number of critical issues including COVID-19 misinformation.” Alphabet Inc’s Google did not comment on engagement with the White House, instead pointing to a company blog on and how it stops misinformation. The source said the companies “were receptive” as they engaged with the White House. “But it is too soon to say whether or not it translates into lessening the spread of misinformation.” There will be more details on how the White House is engaging with the social media companies on this issue in the “next ten days or so”, the source added.

White House working with Facebook and Twitter to tackle anti-vaxxers

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Top ten world news: Biden to rally G7 allies, UK vows to share vaccines and more

The first dose of the Pfizer vaccination is 85 per cent effective against coronavirus infection between two and four weeks after inoculation, a study published in the Lancet medical journal has said.

The said survey was carried out on healthcare workers at a hospital in Israel.

The hospital, on December 19, had launched a mass vaccination campaign regarded as the world's fastest.

Israeli studies have found the Pfizer vaccine to be 95 per cent effective one week after a second jab, while the Lancet report focussed on more than 9,000 medical staff at Sheba hospital near Tel Aviv.

Some 7,000 of them received the first dose and the rest were not inoculated.

From the group, 170 were diagnosed with Covid-19 after tests carried out only on those showing symptoms or who had been in contact with coronavirus carriers.

Fifty-two per cent of them were found to have not been vaccinated.

Comparing the two groups, the Sheba study calculated that the vaccine was 47 per cent effective between one and 14 days after inoculation, rising to 85 per cent after 15 to 28 days.

Scientists are, however, still studying whether fully vaccinated people can transmit the virus to others.

Israel has delivered a shot of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to 4.23 million residents, or 47 per cent of its nine million population, 2.85 million of whom have received the recommended full course of two jabs, latest health ministry figures show.

(with inputs from agencies)

The first dose of the Pfizer vaccination is 85 per cent effective against coronavirus infection between two and four weeks after inoculation, a study published in the Lancet medical journal has said.

The first dose of the Pfizer vaccination is 85 per cent effective against coronavirus infection between two and four weeks after inoculation, a study published in the Lancet medical journal has said. The said survey was carried out on healthcare workers at a hospital in Israel. The hospital, on December 19, had launched a mass vaccination campaign regarded as the world's fastest. Israeli studies have found the Pfizer vaccine to be 95 per cent effective one week after a second jab, while the Lancet report focussed on more than 9,000 medical staff at Sheba hospital near Tel Aviv. Some 7,000 of them received the first dose and the rest were not inoculated. From the group, 170 were diagnosed with Covid-19 after tests carried out only on those showing symptoms or who had been in contact with coronavirus carriers. Fifty-two per cent of them were found to have not been vaccinated. Comparing the two groups, the Sheba study calculated that the vaccine was 47 per cent effective between one and 14 days after inoculation, rising to 85 per cent after 15 to 28 days. Scientists are, however, still studying whether fully vaccinated people can transmit the virus to others. Israel has delivered a shot of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to 4.23 million residents, or 47 per cent of its nine million population, 2.85 million of whom have received the recommended full course of two jabs, latest health ministry figures show. (with inputs from agencies)

Pfizer first dose 85% effective after 2-4 weeks, study says

China's Sinovac delivered 1 million doses of its Covid vaccine CoronaVac to Hong Kong on Friday.

The semi-autonomous city is relying on three vaccines and has purchased 22.5 million doses in total. Sinovac's two-dose vaccine was approved on Thursday.

The Hong Kong government says the Sinovac vaccine has received unanimous approval from an expert panel of 12. The panel as well as the city's health officials reviewed Sinovac's early-stage trial data, as well as interim data from the last stage of clinical trials in Brazil.

Online appointments will begin on the coming Tuesday.

The city is also expecting 1 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine by the end of February. It has also purchased Astrazeneca's shots.

Sinovac's vaccine was approved for general use in China earlier in February.

China's Sinovac delivered 1 million doses of its Covid vaccine CoronaVac to Hong Kong on Friday. The semi-autonomous city is relying on three vaccines and has purchased 22.

China's Sinovac delivered 1 million doses of its Covid vaccine CoronaVac to Hong Kong on Friday. The semi-autonomous city is relying on three vaccines and has purchased 22.5 million doses in total. Sinovac's two-dose vaccine was approved on Thursday. The Hong Kong government says the Sinovac vaccine has received unanimous approval from an expert panel of 12. The panel as well as the city's health officials reviewed Sinovac's early-stage trial data, as well as interim data from the last stage of clinical trials in Brazil. Online appointments will begin on the coming Tuesday. The city is also expecting 1 million doses of Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine by the end of February. It has also purchased Astrazeneca's shots. Sinovac's vaccine was approved for general use in China earlier in February.

China's Sinovac delivers 1 million doses to Hong Kong

Health authorities in some European countries are facing resistance to AstraZeneca`s COVID-19 vaccine after side-effects led hospital staff and other front-line workers to call in sick, putting extra strain on already-stretched services.

Such symptoms, as reported in clinical trials for the AstraZeneca shot, can include a high temperature or headache and are a normal sign that the body is generating an immune response. They usually fade within a day or so.

The other shots approved in Europe, developed by Pfizer and Moderna, have been linked to similar temporary side-effects, including fever and fatigue.

But with the AstraZeneca shot the latest to be rolled out, health authorities in France have issued guidance to stagger giving the shot, two regions in Sweden paused vaccinations, and in Germany some essential workers are refusing it.

A spokesman for AstraZeneca said: "Currently, the reactions reported are as we would expect based on the evidence gathered from our clinical trial programme."

People receiving the vaccine are closely monitored through routine pharmacovigilance activities, the Anglo-Swedish drug maker said, adding that it was continuing to keep a close eye on the situation.

"There have been no confirmed serious adverse events," the spokesman said.

`MORE SIDE-EFFECTS`

In France, which started administering the AstraZeneca shot on Feb. 6, staff at a hospital in Normandy experienced stronger side-effects than seen with the alternative vaccine from Pfizer and German partner BioNTech.

"AstraZeneca caused more side-effects than the Pfizer vaccine," said Melanie Cotigny, communications manager at Saint-Lo hospital in Normandy.

"Between 10% and 15% of those vaccinated may have side-effects from this vaccination, but it is only a feverish state, fevers, nausea and within 12 hours it goes away."

Following similar reports from other hospitals, the French medicines safety agency said on Feb. 11 that such side-effects were "known and described" but should be subject to surveillance with regard to their intensity.

It also issued guidance to stagger vaccinations of front-line staff working together in teams to minimise the risk of disruption to operations.

The agency put out the advice after receiving 149 alerts of often strong flu-like side-effects from the AstraZeneca vaccine. During this period a total of 10,000 people received the shot nationwide.

Some U.S. hospitals and other organisations with front-line staff adopted a similar strategy when the country`s vaccination programme started in December. The United States is administering shots from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna.

In Britain, home to the AstraZeneca vaccine developed at Oxford University, the policy has been to make vaccinations readily available to hospital staff. As many work shifts, that naturally spaces out the process.

The issues in France highlight how some doctors and hospitals are still learning how best to administer vaccines as governments race to tame the pandemic and get shots in arms as quickly as possible.

It`s also the latest setback for the French vaccination campaign which has been criticised for a slow start. Last week, the government said just over 3% of the population had received their first dose.

In Sweden, two of 21 healthcare regions paused vaccinations of workers last week after a quarter called in sick after getting the AstraZeneca shot.

The Sormland and Gavleborg regions said that around 100 out of 400 people vaccinated had reported fever or fever-like symptoms. Most cases were mild and in line with previously reported side-effects.

Both regions said they would resume vaccinations, and the Swedish Medical Products Agency saw no reason to change its vaccination guidelines.

NO SHOWS

AstraZeneca`s vector-based vaccine is the third to win regulatory approval in the European Union.

As part of the European Medicines Agency`s positive recommendation on Jan. 29, the watchdog concluded it was about 60% effective, compared to more than 90% for the vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna.

It also deemed the product safe to use and it will monitor reports of side-effects as a matter of routine.

In Germany, Health Minister Jens Spahn responded on Wednesday to reports that essential workers were reluctant to receive the AstraZeneca shot after some experienced strong side-effects, saying it was both safe and effective.

"I would be vaccinated with it immediately," Spahn told reporters.

Like most European countries, German states typically do not offer people a choice of which vaccine they will get, leading in some cases to people not turning up to appointments to get the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Germany has taken delivery of 737,000 doses from AstraZeneca but only administered 107,000, according to figures from the health ministry and the Robert Koch Institute that leads its pandemic response.

"This vaccine is an excellent way to prevent serious COVID disease," said the health ministry in the eastern state of Saxony. "Still, we note that there are still vacant vaccination dates for AstraZeneca.

"From our point of view, it is wrong that this vaccine is available but not being used," it said, adding that it was reallocating spare shots to teachers and public health workers.

Health authorities in some European countries are facing resistance to AstraZeneca`s COVID-19 vaccine after side-effects led hospital staff and other front-line workers to call in sick, putting extra strain on already-stretched services.

Health authorities in some European countries are facing resistance to AstraZeneca`s COVID-19 vaccine after side-effects led hospital staff and other front-line workers to call in sick, putting extra strain on already-stretched services. Such symptoms, as reported in clinical trials for the AstraZeneca shot, can include a high temperature or headache and are a normal sign that the body is generating an immune response. They usually fade within a day or so. The other shots approved in Europe, developed by Pfizer and Moderna, have been linked to similar temporary side-effects, including fever and fatigue. But with the AstraZeneca shot the latest to be rolled out, health authorities in France have issued guidance to stagger giving the shot, two regions in Sweden paused vaccinations, and in Germany some essential workers are refusing it. A spokesman for AstraZeneca said: "Currently, the reactions reported are as we would expect based on the evidence gathered from our clinical trial programme." People receiving the vaccine are closely monitored through routine pharmacovigilance activities, the Anglo-Swedish drug maker said, adding that it was continuing to keep a close eye on the situation. "There have been no confirmed serious adverse events," the spokesman said. `MORE SIDE-EFFECTS` In France, which started administering the AstraZeneca shot on Feb. 6, staff at a hospital in Normandy experienced stronger side-effects than seen with the alternative vaccine from Pfizer and German partner BioNTech. "AstraZeneca caused more side-effects than the Pfizer vaccine," said Melanie Cotigny, communications manager at Saint-Lo hospital in Normandy. "Between 10% and 15% of those vaccinated may have side-effects from this vaccination, but it is only a feverish state, fevers, nausea and within 12 hours it goes away." Following similar reports from other hospitals, the French medicines safety agency said on Feb. 11 that such side-effects were "known and described" but should be subject to surveillance with regard to their intensity. It also issued guidance to stagger vaccinations of front-line staff working together in teams to minimise the risk of disruption to operations. The agency put out the advice after receiving 149 alerts of often strong flu-like side-effects from the AstraZeneca vaccine. During this period a total of 10,000 people received the shot nationwide. Some U.S. hospitals and other organisations with front-line staff adopted a similar strategy when the country`s vaccination programme started in December. The United States is administering shots from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna. In Britain, home to the AstraZeneca vaccine developed at Oxford University, the policy has been to make vaccinations readily available to hospital staff. As many work shifts, that naturally spaces out the process. The issues in France highlight how some doctors and hospitals are still learning how best to administer vaccines as governments race to tame the pandemic and get shots in arms as quickly as possible. It`s also the latest setback for the French vaccination campaign which has been criticised for a slow start. Last week, the government said just over 3% of the population had received their first dose. In Sweden, two of 21 healthcare regions paused vaccinations of workers last week after a quarter called in sick after getting the AstraZeneca shot. The Sormland and Gavleborg regions said that around 100 out of 400 people vaccinated had reported fever or fever-like symptoms. Most cases were mild and in line with previously reported side-effects. Both regions said they would resume vaccinations, and the Swedish Medical Products Agency saw no reason to change its vaccination guidelines. NO SHOWS AstraZeneca`s vector-based vaccine is the third to win regulatory approval in the European Union. As part of the European Medicines Agency`s positive recommendation on Jan. 29, the watchdog concluded it was about 60% effective, compared to more than 90% for the vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna. It also deemed the product safe to use and it will monitor reports of side-effects as a matter of routine. In Germany, Health Minister Jens Spahn responded on Wednesday to reports that essential workers were reluctant to receive the AstraZeneca shot after some experienced strong side-effects, saying it was both safe and effective. "I would be vaccinated with it immediately," Spahn told reporters. Like most European countries, German states typically do not offer people a choice of which vaccine they will get, leading in some cases to people not turning up to appointments to get the AstraZeneca vaccine. Germany has taken delivery of 737,000 doses from AstraZeneca but only administered 107,000, according to figures from the health ministry and the Robert Koch Institute that leads its pandemic response. "This vaccine is an excellent way to prevent serious COVID disease," said the health ministry in the eastern state of Saxony. "Still, we note that there are still vacant vaccination dates for AstraZeneca. "From our point of view, it is wrong that this vaccine is available but not being used," it said, adding that it was reallocating spare shots to teachers and public health workers.

AstraZeneca vaccine faces resistance in Europe after health workers suffer side-effects

Argentina received 580,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine Covishield on Wednesday (February 17). Manufactured by India's Serum Institute and developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, the consignment brought the country a step closer to launching a large-scale vaccination programme.

Argentina receives 580,000 doses of COVID vaccine from India's Serum Institute

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Monday that 18-19 potential vaccines against novel coronavirus were in different stages of clinical trials, adding that no new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in 188 districts of the country in the last 7 days.

"About 18-20 vaccine candidates against COVID-19 are in the pipeline and are in preclinical, clinical and advanced stages," Vardhan said.

"Some are in Phase I, some in Phase II, and a few approaching Phase III of the clinical trials. We are elated to have a huge portfolio soon," he said at a press conference here.

Dispelling rumours surrounding the vaccines, Vardhan said the vaccines in the public domain are safe and effective. He said no new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in 188 districts of the country in the last 7 days, while no new cases have been reported in 21 districts in 21 days.

Vardhan further urged people to keep following COVID appropriate behaviour. "It is crucial that people continue to follow COVID appropriate behaviour which I call social vaccine, along with real vaccines," he said. India has approved two vaccines -- Covaxin developed by Bharat Biotech and Covishield from the Oxford/AstraZeneca stable being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India -- for emergency use in the country.

Till 8 AM on February 15, the cumulative number of healthcare workers (HCW) and frontline workers (FLW) vaccinated against COVID-19 in the country has reached nearly 83 lakh.

A total 82,85,295 beneficiaries have been vaccinated through 1,73,729 sessions, as per the provisional report till 8 am. These include 59,88,113 HCWs (1st dose), 24,561 HCWs (2nd dose) and 22,72,621 FLWs (1stdose).

India's cumulative recoveries have surged to 1,06,21,220 with9,489patients having recuperated in a span of 24 hours. The ministry said 79.5 per cent of the new recovered cases are observed to be concentrated in six states.

The Union government has prioritised vaccination of 30 crore Indians, dividing them into three categories -- one crore healthcare workers, 2 crore frontline workers, and 27 crores general populace above the age of 50.

On January 3, the Drugs Controller General of India had approved 'Covishield' vaccine developed by Pune-based Serum Institute of India and 'Covaxin' of Bharat Biotech for emergency use authorisation in the country.

Both vaccines have been provided in the nationwide immunisation drive, that was kicked off on January 16. Till Sunday, more than 8 million (82,85,295) doses of vaccines had been administered across India. 
 
(With inputs from agencies)

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Monday that 18-19 potential vaccines against novel coronavirus were in different stages of clinical trials, adding that no new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in 188 districts of the country in the last 7 days.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Monday that 18-19 potential vaccines against novel coronavirus were in different stages of clinical trials, adding that no new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in 188 districts of the country in the last 7 days. "About 18-20 vaccine candidates against COVID-19 are in the pipeline and are in preclinical, clinical and advanced stages," Vardhan said. "Some are in Phase I, some in Phase II, and a few approaching Phase III of the clinical trials. We are elated to have a huge portfolio soon," he said at a press conference here. Dispelling rumours surrounding the vaccines, Vardhan said the vaccines in the public domain are safe and effective. He said no new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in 188 districts of the country in the last 7 days, while no new cases have been reported in 21 districts in 21 days. Vardhan further urged people to keep following COVID appropriate behaviour. "It is crucial that people continue to follow COVID appropriate behaviour which I call social vaccine, along with real vaccines," he said. India has approved two vaccines -- Covaxin developed by Bharat Biotech and Covishield from the Oxford/AstraZeneca stable being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India -- for emergency use in the country. Till 8 AM on February 15, the cumulative number of healthcare workers (HCW) and frontline workers (FLW) vaccinated against COVID-19 in the country has reached nearly 83 lakh. A total 82,85,295 beneficiaries have been vaccinated through 1,73,729 sessions, as per the provisional report till 8 am. These include 59,88,113 HCWs (1st dose), 24,561 HCWs (2nd dose) and 22,72,621 FLWs (1stdose). India's cumulative recoveries have surged to 1,06,21,220 with9,489patients having recuperated in a span of 24 hours. The ministry said 79.5 per cent of the new recovered cases are observed to be concentrated in six states. The Union government has prioritised vaccination of 30 crore Indians, dividing them into three categories -- one crore healthcare workers, 2 crore frontline workers, and 27 crores general populace above the age of 50. On January 3, the Drugs Controller General of India had approved 'Covishield' vaccine developed by Pune-based Serum Institute of India and 'Covaxin' of Bharat Biotech for emergency use authorisation in the country. Both vaccines have been provided in the nationwide immunisation drive, that was kicked off on January 16. Till Sunday, more than 8 million (82,85,295) doses of vaccines had been administered across India. (With inputs from agencies)

No new cases in 188 districts in a week, 18 covid vaccine candidates in the pipeline: Health Minister

When the coronavirus pandemic struck last March, Kathryn Stewart was working at a gas station in rural Michigan and living in her mother’s trailer with eight relatives, three dogs and a budget with no room for error.

When the coronavirus pandemic struck last March, Kathryn Stewart was working at a gas station in rural Michigan and living in her mother’s trailer with eight relatives, three dogs and a budget with no room for error. Her mother, who is disabled, soon urged her to quit to avoid bringing home the disease. Stewart reluctantly agreed, wondering how she would support herself and her 10-year-old son. An expanded safety net caught her, after being rushed into place by Congress last spring with rare bipartisan support. To her surprise, Stewart not only received unemployment insurance but a weekly bonus of $600 more than tripled her income. A stimulus check offered additional help, as did a modest food stamp increase. Despite opaque rules and confounding delays, the outpouring of government aid lifted her above the poverty line. Six months later, after temporary aid expired and deadlock in Washington returned, Stewart’s benefits fell to a trickle, and she was all but homeless after a family fight forced her from the trailer to a friend’s spare room. She skipped meals to feed her son, sold possessions to raise cash and suffered anxiety attacks so severe they sometimes kept her in bed. Just as Stewart finally found a job, celebration turned to shock: The state demanded that she repay the jobless aid she had received, claiming she had been ineligible. That left her with an eye-popping debt of more than $12,000. “I spent the whole day just trying to breathe,” Stewart said the day the notice arrived. “I’m really confused about the whole thing. I’m trying not to panic.” In the robust aid she received and its painful disappearance, Stewart’s experience captures both sides of the gyrating federal efforts to fortify the safety net in a crisis of historic proportions. As the virus ravaged jobs last spring, rapid federal action protected millions of people from hardship and showed that government can be a powerful force in reducing poverty. Yet the expiration of aid a few months later also underscored how vulnerable the needy are to partisan standoffs in an age of polarized government. Gaps in aid left families short on food and rent, uncertainty made it impossible to plan and confusion joined fear and worry. In his first weeks in office, President Joe Biden appears to have both lessons in mind. A benefit extension passed in December expires next month, and he is urging Congress to spend big and move fast to keep 11 million workers from losing unemployment aid. Democrats are advancing his $1.9 trillion plan for stimulus and relief with a fast-track procedure that limits their policy options but increases the odds of avoiding more whipsaw delays. Critics of the spending warn it swells the national debt and erodes incentives to work. Supporters say the government’s impact has rarely seemed so direct: When help flowed at extraordinary levels, poverty fell. When it ended, poverty rose. “This could be a watershed moment,” said H. Luke Shaefer, who runs a poverty research center at the University of Michigan. “We showed how much government can do to mitigate hardship, even if the effort didn’t last.” With millions still depending on government aid in a weak recovery, Stewart’s experience over the past 10 months highlights the stakes. As her complex life shows, the causes of poverty often run deep, and some lie beyond the reach of a government check. But the aid, while it lasted, broke her fall, and she is now back on her feet. In recent weeks, Stewart, 36, has been working at an Amazon warehouse and fighting Michigan’s efforts to recoup her unemployment benefits. She said she was “super happy” to no longer be at risk from another Washington impasse. An introspective woman, insightful about her hardships but distant from politics, she wonders how federal help has at once been so generous and so unsteady — a question that weighs on millions of Americans now waiting to see whether Congress moves quickly enough to sustain their benefits. “It made a huge difference in our lives,” Stewart said. “But it starts and stops and it’s really confusing. You feel helpless when you’re being helped by the government.” Should another crisis arise, she said, “I hope the government has a better plan.” Then Came the Pandemic Stewart grew up accustomed to hardship and inventive in her responses. In a family too poor for vacations, she created her own by tagging along on her stepfather’s tractor-trailer runs. When he fought with her mother, she sheltered in closets. When he left, her mother tried to quell the family’s hunger with diet pills. Stewart was in grade school when panic attacks started, which she blamed on the conflict. An unsupervised adolescence followed in Grand Rapids, where Stewart slept in parks with runaways. She liked the literature of bohemians and rebels — Hunter S. Thompson and Oscar Wilde — but left school at 16 and lived in her car. Short on formal education, Stewart was long on curiosity and peripatetic instinct, which carried her from Ireland to California in between seasonal work at Michigan resorts. She dyed her hair unusual colors. She gave herself tattoos. She covered her walls with the surrealist works of Salvador Dalí, in shared faith that “you create your own reality.” Fearful of forgetting, Stewart kept a memory box, which included a middle-school note, a ukulele pick and clippings from her first mohawk. In her mid-20s, Stewart married and had a son, Jack, but her husband left and her anxiety grew. “Over the years I’ve gotten real anxious — almost afraid of people,” she said. “I’m an empath — if someone else feels bad, I feel bad.” Still, Stewart worked, most happily in solitude. By 2019, Stewart was a night janitor and living with her sister in Grand Rapids. Her sister fell behind on the rent and insisted they move in with their mother, five hours away in rural Ossineke. Stewart grudgingly succumbed. “We all rely on each other, which is good except for us not getting along,” she said. With four children and conflicting parenting styles, the trailer proved crowded and tense. When Stewart found work as a gas station cashier — $10 an hour, 20 hours a week — she welcomed the escape as much as the pay. A few weeks later, the coronavirus hit. Help Was on the Way As the virus spread in early March, President Donald Trump insisted it posed no threat. “Jobs are booming, incomes are soaring,” he tweeted. By the next week, Disneyland and Broadway were padlocked and the stock market notched its worst daily loss in decades. While the need for Washington action was clear, the risks of an impasse were great. Liberal Democrats controlled the House, conservative Republicans held the Senate, and Trump derided the House speaker as “Crazy Nancy” Pelosi. Yet within a few weeks, they agreed on a $2.2 trillion plan. One surprise was how much it did for the poor, a class not known for political clout. Even the poorest families fully qualified for stimulus payments — $1,200 for adults, $500 for children (some Republicans had proposed giving them less) — and at the Democrats’ insistence, Congress greatly expanded jobless benefits. The existing program was filled with gaps: It covered only about one-quarter of the jobless and replaced less than half their lost wages. Congress widened coverage, temporarily adding part-time workers, independent contractors and others typically excluded. And for four months it gave everyone on jobless aid a large bonus: $600 a week. The payments were more than many workers had earned on the job. Critics said the aid would discourage the jobless from seeking work, but urgency prevailed. “Gag and vote for it anyway,” the Senate leader, Mitch McConnell, advised fellow Republicans. The Senate vote was 96-0. Approving aid was one thing, delivering it another. Most stimulus checks arrived automatically and fast, though people who did not file tax returns had to contact the IRS — a procedural hurdle that kept payments from about 8 million potentially eligible people, mostly low-income. Households with unauthorized immigrants were barred from stimulus checks, which excluded about 5 million spouses and children who were citizens or legal residents. Unemployment insurance proved harder to get. With nearly 40 million claims in nine weeks, the state-run programs were overwhelmed. Computers crashed. Phone lines jammed. Governors called in the National Guard to process requests. Food shortages soared, especially among families with children as school closures deprived millions of meals. Lines outside food banks stretched for miles. But the havoc obscured the scale of the coming relief. Help was on the way. ‘I Was Just Like, Wow!’ Stewart was still working in April when a $1,700 stimulus check arrived. Like many poor people, she used it in part to settle debts, including a large fine for driving an unregistered truck. “That made me feel a hundred times better,” she said. Soon after, she got a cold and fear spread through the trailer. “My mom is immunocompromised — she said you absolutely cannot be working with the public,” Stewart said. With school out, her mother also wanted her home to watch her son. Stewart felt forced to quit working. As a recently hired part-time worker, she did not think Michigan would approve her request for unemployment benefits. But the new program covered workers who quit to protect medically vulnerable members of their households. Stewart received $1,250, just for two weeks. “I was just like, Wow!” she said. The payments ceased without explanation but resumed a month later at $760 a week, with money for weeks missed. The aid was nearly four times her lost paycheck. It was more than she had ever made — “more than I could even think about before I got it,” she said. By June, about 1 in 5 American workers was getting jobless aid — five times the previous peak. Like Stewart, roughly 40% of them were covered by the new pandemic assistance. And like Stewart, most saw their incomes grow. Congress aimed to fully replace the average worker’s pay, but its formula overshot the mark. Three-quarters of the jobless received unemployment checks that exceeded their lost earnings, according to Peter Ganong and colleagues at the University of Chicago, with the median replacement rate at 145%. Among the poorest tenth of workers, incomes nearly tripled. Despite mass unemployment, poverty estimates fell. Researchers at the University of Chicago and Notre Dame found there were 5 million fewer poor people in June than before the crisis. Jobless people usually cut their budgets, but in this case their spending rose, by as much as 20%. The unemployment assistance was extraordinary but not uniform. Immigrants without legal status were ineligible, as were Americans paid off the books. Some eligible workers did not know to apply, and others encountered a bureaucratic maze. Eliza Forsythe, an economist at the University of Illinois, saw a “lottery effect” at play, with random factors deciding which households got aid. But most eventually did. Truck Parts and Camping Policymakers often debate what difference the safety net makes. The 12 weeks of enhanced benefits touched most corners of Stewart’s life. She remained an anxious single mother living in an overcrowded trailer — a woman with a hard lot. But she ate better. She quarreled with her family less. She suffered less debilitating stress. Mindful that the $600 weekly bonus would soon expire, Stewart eyed projects with long-term benefits. Transportation is essential in rural Michigan, and she considered herself handy with a wrench. She spent $2,000 on tools and parts to rebuild the engine of her old truck. The trailer was in disrepair. For $1,700 Stewart patched the roof and porch, replaced the kitchen cabinets and a bathroom wall, and added a storage shed. Her credit was in shambles, too. She settled a hospital bill and invested in prepaid credit cards to lift her credit score. She also had some fun. A creek ran behind trailer. “I said, ‘Man, we should be in the water,’” she said. Kayaks followed. She and her mother had long talked about camping, and now she had money for gas and gear. They stayed up late talking by the fire and returned from a hike around the lake with buckets of smoky quartz. In a strained relationship, the trip was like the stones — a treasure salvaged from rocky shores. No purchase made Stewart happier than the Xbox she bought for Jack’s 11th birthday. She hid it for three months, fearing she would be broke again by the celebration. It was the sort of extravagance he kept out of mind, and Stewart relished the looming surprise. “It made me feel like I was the kind of mother I wanted to be,” she said. After years of anxiety and depression, Stewart did not go as far as to argue that money buys happiness. But she said it helped. “I did stop having panic attacks as much,” she said. “It was just less stressful. It made a huge difference.” Washington Dithers Washington made that difference. With more than 30 million people collecting unemployment in July and the bonus payments expiring at the end of the month, the question was whether Washington would act again. Amid a slow recovery and rising infections, most economists called for more stimulus and relief, as did the chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, who warned that the downturn was especially hard on low-wage workers and people of color. The Democratic-run House moved quickly, voting in May to extend the bonuses as part of a $3 trillion stimulus bill. Senate Republicans derided the cost, but were slow to propose an alternative. Some argued the economy was recovering, and some feared the bonuses discouraged work, though multiple studies found otherwise. As the bonuses expired on July 31, new weekly jobless claims topped 1 million for the 19th straight week. Lengthy negotiations bore no fruit. With Election Day approaching, Pelosi seemed to believe that Senate Republicans would give in to the Democrats’ demands. As talks ground on, Trump swung wildly, using executive action for a short-term fix (a $300 weekly bonus, for six weeks) while alternately demanding and spurning deals. The political calculations were lost on Stewart, who grasped only the lost aid. “I don’t think any of them really understand about being poor,” she said. Without the bonuses, average unemployment checks fell by about two-thirds. Stewart’s simply disappeared. Besieged with fraud, Michigan froze hundreds of thousands of cases while it investigated, including hers. “I just went back to being really broke again,” she said. Stewart sold possessions — a bicycle, a camera, her grandmother’s watch. The credit cards that she hoped would bolster her finances ran up fees and closed. The truck into which she had invested so much became a metaphor: It ran only in reverse. Her food stamps ran out before the end of the monthly cycle. While Stewart skipped meals to keep Jack fed, there were days when he ate a single meal. “You hear him say ‘I’m hungry,’ and your heart breaks,” she said. As aid dwindled, hardships rose nationwide. The number of poor people, which had declined through June, grew by 8 million through the rest of the year. Biweekly surveys by the Census Bureau showed steadily rising need. Reports of depression climbed 12%, according to an analysis of the surveys by Shaefer and a colleague, Patrick Cooney. The number of people behind on rent rose 27%. By the end of the year, more than 1 in 6 households with children said they sometimes or often lacked enough to eat. “When the government acted, things got better — when the aid went away, things got worse,” Shaefer said. After seven weeks, Michigan resumed Stewart’s unemployment aid in mid-September, with payments for the missing weeks. But without the bonus, her weekly amount fell to $160, a decline of nearly 80%. In October, Stewart took Jack on a birthday visit to Grand Rapids and gave him the Xbox. Rather than celebrate, he chided her, warning they could not afford it. Then he played it, as she hoped. An argument with her mother followed, for reasons Stewart struggled to explain. Perhaps the hardship had simply exhausted everyone’s patience. When the phone call between them ended, Stewart had lost her spot in the trailer. Only a friend’s spare room kept her and Jack from a shelter. “We are homeless,” she said. With Stewart at a low point in late October, her jobless aid stopped again. She discovered she had accidentally closed her case while reviewing it on her phone. When she reapplied, the case was frozen — for the third time in five months, her benefits ceased. When a reporter called one night, Stewart said she had not eaten in a day and a half. A month later, Stewart’s application was denied. Although the gas station where she had worked did not contest her original claim, it now said she had quit without reason. Stewart insists that she explained she was leaving to protect her mother’s health. Next came the state’s demand that she repay the earlier aid — $12,574.12 — and warnings that a false statement could lead to “jail time.” Stewart had just found the Amazon job. It paid $16.30 an hour, more than she had ever made. She could work nights and be home when Jack took online classes. “Whoo-hoo,” she had written, sharing the news. But she worked her first shift under the threat of garnished wages. Faith in the Safety Net It took the November election to end the Washington stalemate. Action did not come from new economic data. Only the politics changed. As president-elect, Biden wanted to quickly stimulate the economy he would inherit. He said a compromise could provide a “down payment” on a larger package to follow. After long rejecting the down-payment logic, Pelosi accepted a $900 billion bill — smaller than those she had rejected — saying that she trusted Biden to keep fighting. With control of the Senate depending on two runoff elections in Georgia, Republicans compromised, too, courting voters (unsuccessfully) with a compromise that included a short-term extension of unemployment bonuses at $300 a week. Shortly before taking office, Biden proposed his bigger plan, with more stimulus checks, larger unemployment bonuses for a longer duration and an income floor for every family with children. The details are complex but the philosophy is clear: He is beginning his presidency with a statement of faith in the power of the safety net. With Democrats holding Congress by the thinnest margin, it has advanced with no Republican votes. Whether Democrats can enact it before the expanded jobless benefits expire again in March remains uncertain. Still moving packages at the Amazon warehouse, Stewart is now less vulnerable to a political stalemate. While the pace is punishing, with a shift that starts at 1:20 a.m., she displays a self-mocking pride in her endurance. “I’m a number but a number with a paycheck,” she said. She continues to appeal the state’s efforts to recapture her unemployment benefits. Nearly a year into the pandemic, profound differences separate the parties’ views of the safety net. But those differences get lost at the distance from which Stewart views politics. She strongly favors neither party and did not vote in November. Still, her fluctuating fortunes have imparted a lesson about the clashes of Washington politicians. “Maybe I wouldn’t have noticed it before,” she said, “but what they do really makes a difference.”

A year of hardship, helped and hindered by Washington

Mexico has received a shipment of 870,000 doses of AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine from India, the government said on Sunday.

The shipment amounts to about 42 per cent of the two million doses of the AstraZeneca and Oxford University vaccine the country plans to import from India.

Mexico is also expecting shipments of Pfizer's vaccine to resume, with 494,000 doses due to arrive on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard told a news conference.

Mexico and Argentina have an agreement with AstraZeneca to produce the vaccine for eventual distribution of 250 million doses in Latin America.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/mexico-to-receive-1-million-doses-of-india-made-covid-vaccine-362890">Also read |&nbsp;Mexico to receive 1 million doses of India-made Covid vaccine</a>

Mexico, which has one of the world's highest coronavirus death tolls, started vaccinating healthcare workers in December but struggled to hit its targets amid global shortages and delays of Pfizer's vaccine.

The country has so far received just 1,636,350 vaccine doses, according to government data, but has agreements for millions more, including for China's CanSino and the Russian Sputnik V.

Mexico will next vaccinate adults over the age of 60.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/india-sends-covid-vaccines-to-caribbean-up-next-mexico-362734">Also read |&nbsp;India sends Covid vaccines to Caribbean, up next Mexico</a>

Mexico has received a shipment of 870,000 doses of AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine from India, the government said on Sunday. The shipment amounts to about 42 per cent of the two million doses of the AstraZeneca and Oxford University vaccine the country plans to import from India.

Mexico has received a shipment of 870,000 doses of AstraZeneca's Covid vaccine from India, the government said on Sunday. The shipment amounts to about 42 per cent of the two million doses of the AstraZeneca and Oxford University vaccine the country plans to import from India. Mexico is also expecting shipments of Pfizer's vaccine to resume, with 494,000 doses due to arrive on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard told a news conference. Mexico and Argentina have an agreement with AstraZeneca to produce the vaccine for eventual distribution of 250 million doses in Latin America. Also read | Mexico to receive 1 million doses of India-made Covid vaccine Mexico, which has one of the world's highest coronavirus death tolls, started vaccinating healthcare workers in December but struggled to hit its targets amid global shortages and delays of Pfizer's vaccine. The country has so far received just 1,636,350 vaccine doses, according to government data, but has agreements for millions more, including for China's CanSino and the Russian Sputnik V. Mexico will next vaccinate adults over the age of 60. Also read | India sends Covid vaccines to Caribbean, up next Mexico

Mexico receives AstraZeneca doses from India

Japan has officially approved Pfizer Inc's Covid vaccine, as the country steps up efforts to tame a third wave of infections in the run-up to the Summer Olympic Games.

"The health minister today gave a special approval to the Pfizer vaccine," the prime minister's office said in a tweet on Sunday.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has said vaccinations will begin from the middle of next week, starting with some 10,000 health workers. The government hopes to secure enough supplies for the whole populace - some 126 million people - by mid-year.

Japan is expected to put&nbsp;the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in the arms of 10,000 to 20,000 medical workers from as early as Wednesday, before making it and other coronavirus vaccines available for more medical workers and the elderly from April.

The government is yet to outline the exact rollout schedule for the rest of its population of 126 million people.

Olympics officials have insisted that the Tokyo Games will take place even though Covid-19 continues to affect the entire world.

Japan has so far recorded about 410,000 coronavirus cases nationally and 6,772 deaths. The Olympic Games are due to start July 23.

Japan has officially approved Pfizer Inc's Covid vaccine, as the country steps up efforts to tame a third wave of infections in the run-up to the Summer Olympic Games.

Japan has officially approved Pfizer Inc's Covid vaccine, as the country steps up efforts to tame a third wave of infections in the run-up to the Summer Olympic Games. "The health minister today gave a special approval to the Pfizer vaccine," the prime minister's office said in a tweet on Sunday. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has said vaccinations will begin from the middle of next week, starting with some 10,000 health workers. The government hopes to secure enough supplies for the whole populace - some 126 million people - by mid-year. Japan is expected to put the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine in the arms of 10,000 to 20,000 medical workers from as early as Wednesday, before making it and other coronavirus vaccines available for more medical workers and the elderly from April. The government is yet to outline the exact rollout schedule for the rest of its population of 126 million people. Olympics officials have insisted that the Tokyo Games will take place even though Covid-19 continues to affect the entire world. Japan has so far recorded about 410,000 coronavirus cases nationally and 6,772 deaths. The Olympic Games are due to start July 23.

Japan formally approves its first Covid vaccine

Lebanon on Saturday received its first vaccines against the coronavirus, a day before an inoculation drive kicks off in the crisis-hit Mediterranean country.

A plane landed at the Beirut airport, an AFP correspondent reported, with authorities saying it was carrying 28,500 doses of Pfizer/BioNTech flown in from Belgium.

The shipment was the first after the World Bank allocated $34 million to inoculate two million of Lebanon's six million inhabitants.

Caretaker health minister Hamad Hassan was on the tarmac to welcome the plane and expressed great "relief".

"It's a dream being realised today thanks to the support of our UN and international partners," he told reporters,

"The vaccine will reach all Lebanese citizens across the country," as well as Syrian and Palestinian refugees and other residents, he promised.

Lebanon has been under strict lockdown since mid-January, after an unprecedented spike in cases blamed on holiday gatherings that forced overwhelmed hospitals to turn away patients.

Vaccination rollout is set to start on Sunday.

Health workers will receive their first dose at the Rafik Hariri Hospital, the country's main public hospital tackling the Covid-19 outbreak, the American University of Beirut Medical Centre, and Saint George Orthodox Hospital.

"The best gift one can ask for on Valentine's Day," wrote the director of the Rafik Hariri Hospital, Firas Abiad, on Twitter.

Prime Minister Hassan Diab, 61, is also to be vaccinated, his office said.

Under Lebanon's vaccination plan, medical staff and those over the age of 75 are to receive the jab first.

In total Lebanon hopes to receive around six million vaccine doses, including two million from Pfizer/BioNTech and another 2.7 million via the international Covax distribution programme.

Half a million people in Lebanon have signed up to receive a vaccine, a health ministry official said, although many are hesitant to get the jab.

Of 500 people surveyed by private think-tank Information International, 31 percent said they would get vaccinated, 38 percent said they would rather not, and another 31 percent were undecided.

Lebanon was already in the throes of its worst economic crisis in decades when Covid-19 hit, and the situation has been exacerbated after a massive blast at Beirut's port in August killed more than 200 people and destroyed large parts of the capital.

The World Bank and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) are to monitor the rollout, they said in a statement Friday.

They aim to "ensure fair, broad, and fast access to Covid-19 vaccines to help save lives and support economic recovery", World Bank regional director Saroj Kumar Jha said.

Lebanon says 334,086&nbsp;people have caught coronavirus&nbsp;since February 2020, of whom 3,915 have died.

Lebanon on Saturday received its first vaccines against the coronavirus, a day before an inoculation drive kicks off in the crisis-hit Mediterranean country. A plane landed at the Beirut airport, an AFP correspondent reported, with authorities saying it was carrying 28,500 doses of Pfizer/BioNTech flown in from Belgium.

Lebanon on Saturday received its first vaccines against the coronavirus, a day before an inoculation drive kicks off in the crisis-hit Mediterranean country. A plane landed at the Beirut airport, an AFP correspondent reported, with authorities saying it was carrying 28,500 doses of Pfizer/BioNTech flown in from Belgium. The shipment was the first after the World Bank allocated $34 million to inoculate two million of Lebanon's six million inhabitants. Caretaker health minister Hamad Hassan was on the tarmac to welcome the plane and expressed great "relief". "It's a dream being realised today thanks to the support of our UN and international partners," he told reporters, "The vaccine will reach all Lebanese citizens across the country," as well as Syrian and Palestinian refugees and other residents, he promised. Lebanon has been under strict lockdown since mid-January, after an unprecedented spike in cases blamed on holiday gatherings that forced overwhelmed hospitals to turn away patients. Vaccination rollout is set to start on Sunday. Health workers will receive their first dose at the Rafik Hariri Hospital, the country's main public hospital tackling the Covid-19 outbreak, the American University of Beirut Medical Centre, and Saint George Orthodox Hospital. "The best gift one can ask for on Valentine's Day," wrote the director of the Rafik Hariri Hospital, Firas Abiad, on Twitter. Prime Minister Hassan Diab, 61, is also to be vaccinated, his office said. Under Lebanon's vaccination plan, medical staff and those over the age of 75 are to receive the jab first. In total Lebanon hopes to receive around six million vaccine doses, including two million from Pfizer/BioNTech and another 2.7 million via the international Covax distribution programme. Half a million people in Lebanon have signed up to receive a vaccine, a health ministry official said, although many are hesitant to get the jab. Of 500 people surveyed by private think-tank Information International, 31 percent said they would get vaccinated, 38 percent said they would rather not, and another 31 percent were undecided. Lebanon was already in the throes of its worst economic crisis in decades when Covid-19 hit, and the situation has been exacerbated after a massive blast at Beirut's port in August killed more than 200 people and destroyed large parts of the capital. The World Bank and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) are to monitor the rollout, they said in a statement Friday. They aim to "ensure fair, broad, and fast access to Covid-19 vaccines to help save lives and support economic recovery", World Bank regional director Saroj Kumar Jha said. Lebanon says 334,086 people have caught coronavirus since February 2020, of whom 3,915 have died.

Lebanon receives first Covid vaccines

Pakistan on Friday approved China`s CanSino Biologics Inc`s (CanSinoBIO) COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, Health Minister Faisal Sultan said, the fourth candidate authorized in the South Asian nation of 220 million.

Pakistan, largely reliant on the GAVI/WHO COVAX initiative for poorer nations, has also allowed private companies to import coronavirus vaccines and has agreed to exempt such imports from price caps.

"Yes, correct," Sultan texted Reuters after being asked if the Drug Regulation Authority had approved the vaccine.

China`s Sinopharm, AstraZeneca and Russia`s Sputnik V have also received authorisation.

Pakistan is the second country to approve CanSinoBio after Mexico.

Mexico has signed a deal with CanSino for at least 8 million doses. Pakistan, according to Sultan, could receive "in the range of tens of millions" of doses.

CanSinoBIO last week released interim efficacy results from a multi-country trial, which included Pakistan, showing 65.7% efficacy in preventing symptomatic coronavirus cases and a 90.98% success rate in stopping severe infections.

In the Pakistani subset, efficacy of the CanSinoBIO vaccine at preventing symptomatic cases was 74.8% and 100% at preventing severe disease.

The decision to allow commercial imports of the vaccine with an exemption on upper price caps has sparked criticism.

"This step will deepen inequality in society at a time when there is a need to have widespread coverage," former health minister Zafar Mirza told Reuters. "It`s not a good public policy to make it solely the rich can afford to be vaccinated."

Pakistan has recorded more than 550,000 cases of COVID-19 and more than 12,000 deaths but has yet to receive any of the 17 million doses it is expected to get through the COVAX initiative.

The country earlier this month launched a vaccination drive with 500,000 doses of Sinopharm donated by longtime ally China to give to frontline healthcare workers as priority.

Pakistan on Friday approved China`s CanSino Biologics Inc`s (CanSinoBIO) COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, Health Minister Faisal Sultan said, the fourth candidate authorized in the South Asian nation of 220 million.

Pakistan on Friday approved China`s CanSino Biologics Inc`s (CanSinoBIO) COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, Health Minister Faisal Sultan said, the fourth candidate authorized in the South Asian nation of 220 million. Pakistan, largely reliant on the GAVI/WHO COVAX initiative for poorer nations, has also allowed private companies to import coronavirus vaccines and has agreed to exempt such imports from price caps. "Yes, correct," Sultan texted Reuters after being asked if the Drug Regulation Authority had approved the vaccine. China`s Sinopharm, AstraZeneca and Russia`s Sputnik V have also received authorisation. Pakistan is the second country to approve CanSinoBio after Mexico. Mexico has signed a deal with CanSino for at least 8 million doses. Pakistan, according to Sultan, could receive "in the range of tens of millions" of doses. CanSinoBIO last week released interim efficacy results from a multi-country trial, which included Pakistan, showing 65.7% efficacy in preventing symptomatic coronavirus cases and a 90.98% success rate in stopping severe infections. In the Pakistani subset, efficacy of the CanSinoBIO vaccine at preventing symptomatic cases was 74.8% and 100% at preventing severe disease. The decision to allow commercial imports of the vaccine with an exemption on upper price caps has sparked criticism. "This step will deepen inequality in society at a time when there is a need to have widespread coverage," former health minister Zafar Mirza told Reuters. "It`s not a good public policy to make it solely the rich can afford to be vaccinated." Pakistan has recorded more than 550,000 cases of COVID-19 and more than 12,000 deaths but has yet to receive any of the 17 million doses it is expected to get through the COVAX initiative. The country earlier this month launched a vaccination drive with 500,000 doses of Sinopharm donated by longtime ally China to give to frontline healthcare workers as priority.

Pakistan approves Chinese CanSinoBIO COVID vaccine for emergency use

France on Friday recommended that people who have already recovered from Covid-19 receive a single vaccine dose, becoming the first country to issue such advice.

All three Covid-19 vaccines approved for use in the European Union are administered in the form of two doses, delivered several weeks apart.&nbsp;

This is because clinical trials showed that immunity against the disease was significantly higher after individuals received two shots.

France's public health authority said Friday however that people who had already been infected with Covid-19 develop an immune response similar to that bestowed by a vaccine dose, and that a single dose after infection would likely suffice.

"A single vaccine dose will also play the role of reminding" their immune system how to fight Covid-19, it said.

The authority recommended a gap of between three and six months after infection before individuals who had recovered from Covid-19 receive a jab.

"At the moment no country has clearly positioned itself in terms of a sole vaccination dose for people who have already contracted Covid-19," it said.

France has accelerated its vaccination programme in recent weeks but it is still in its infancy.&nbsp;

As of Thursday, over 2.1 million people had received at least one vaccine dose, with almost 535,800 having already received two.

At least 3.4 million people have had confirmed Covid-19 infections in France, although there are likely to have been far more given the relative lack of accessible testing during the pandemic's first wave.

Two recent US studies suggest that a single vaccine dose may work in individuals who have already recovered from Covid-19.

One paper said that immunity in individuals who had had Covid-19 and then received a single vaccine dose "is equal to or even exceeds" that of people who have not had Covid-19 but received two vaccine doses.

A vaccine still in development by Johnson &amp; Johnson works with a single dose, but it is yet to receive emergency use authorisation from EU and US regulators.

France on Friday recommended that people who have already recovered from Covid-19 receive a single vaccine dose, becoming the first country to issue such advice.

France on Friday recommended that people who have already recovered from Covid-19 receive a single vaccine dose, becoming the first country to issue such advice. All three Covid-19 vaccines approved for use in the European Union are administered in the form of two doses, delivered several weeks apart. This is because clinical trials showed that immunity against the disease was significantly higher after individuals received two shots. France's public health authority said Friday however that people who had already been infected with Covid-19 develop an immune response similar to that bestowed by a vaccine dose, and that a single dose after infection would likely suffice. "A single vaccine dose will also play the role of reminding" their immune system how to fight Covid-19, it said. The authority recommended a gap of between three and six months after infection before individuals who had recovered from Covid-19 receive a jab. "At the moment no country has clearly positioned itself in terms of a sole vaccination dose for people who have already contracted Covid-19," it said. France has accelerated its vaccination programme in recent weeks but it is still in its infancy. As of Thursday, over 2.1 million people had received at least one vaccine dose, with almost 535,800 having already received two. At least 3.4 million people have had confirmed Covid-19 infections in France, although there are likely to have been far more given the relative lack of accessible testing during the pandemic's first wave. Two recent US studies suggest that a single vaccine dose may work in individuals who have already recovered from Covid-19. One paper said that immunity in individuals who had had Covid-19 and then received a single vaccine dose "is equal to or even exceeds" that of people who have not had Covid-19 but received two vaccine doses. A vaccine still in development by Johnson & Johnson works with a single dose, but it is yet to receive emergency use authorisation from EU and US regulators.

France recommends single vaccine dose for people who have had Covid

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