Comments - Modi's Vaccine Nationalism: India's Hasty Approval of Homegrown COVID19 Vaccine - PakAlumni Worldwide: The Global Social Network 2024-03-28T23:46:49Zhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profiles/comment/feed?attachedTo=1119293%3ABlogPost%3A368207&xn_auth=noIndia-made cough syrups may b…tag:www.pakalumni.com,2022-10-06:1119293:Comment:4108822022-10-06T01:53:23.461ZRiaz Haqhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profile/riazul
<p>India-made cough syrups may be tied to 66 deaths in Gambia: WHO | Business and Economy News | Al Jazeera<br></br><br></br><br></br><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/10/5/india-made-cough-syrups-may-be-tied-to-66-deaths-in-gambia-who" target="_blank">https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/10/5/india-made-cough-syrups-may-be-tied-to-66-deaths-in-gambia-who</a><br></br><br></br>The WHO also issued a medical product alert asking regulators to remove Maiden Pharma goods from the…</p>
<p>India-made cough syrups may be tied to 66 deaths in Gambia: WHO | Business and Economy News | Al Jazeera<br/><br/><br/><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/10/5/india-made-cough-syrups-may-be-tied-to-66-deaths-in-gambia-who" target="_blank">https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2022/10/5/india-made-cough-syrups-may-be-tied-to-66-deaths-in-gambia-who</a><br/><br/>The WHO also issued a medical product alert asking regulators to remove Maiden Pharma goods from the market.<br/><br/><br/>The deaths of dozens of children in The Gambia from kidney injuries may be linked to contaminated cough and cold syrups made by an Indian drug manufacturer, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday.<br/><br/>WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters that the UN agency was conducting an investigation along with Indian regulators and the drugmaker, New Delhi-based Maiden Pharmaceuticals Ltd.<br/><br/>Maiden Pharma declined to comment on the alert, while calls and Reuters messages to the Drugs Controller General of India went unanswered. The Gambia and India’s health ministry also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<br/><br/>The WHO also issued a medical product alert asking regulators to remove Maiden Pharma goods from the market.<br/><br/>The products may have been distributed elsewhere through informal markets, but had so far only been identified in The Gambia, the WHO said in its alert.<br/><br/>The alert covers four products – Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup and Magrip N Cold Syrup.<br/><br/><br/>Lab analysis confirmed “unacceptable” amounts of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol, which can be toxic when consumed, the WHO said. The Gambia’s government said last month it has also been investigating the deaths, as a spike in cases of acute kidney injury among children under the age of five was detected in late July.<br/><br/>Medical officers in The Gambia raised the alarm in July, after several children began falling ill with kidney problems three to five days after taking a locally sold paracetamol syrup. By August, 28 had died, but health authorities said the toll would likely rise. Now 66 are dead, WHO said on Wednesday.<br/><br/>The deaths have shaken the tiny West African nation, which is already dealing with multiple health emergencies including measles and malaria.<br/><br/>Maiden Pharmaceuticals manufactures medicines at its facilities in India, which it then sells domestically, as well as exporting it to countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, according to its website.</p>
<p class="comment-timestamp"></p> #India confirms #Asia's first…tag:www.pakalumni.com,2022-08-01:1119293:Comment:4096952022-08-01T23:30:25.846ZRiaz Haqhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profile/riazul
<p><span>#India confirms #Asia's first #monkeypox death. The 22-year-old #Indian man died on Saturday in #Kerala. It's only the fourth known fatality in the world from the disease in the current outbreak. #Modi #Disease #BJP #Hindutva #Health <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-confirms-its-first-monkeypox-death-2022-08-01/" target="_blank">https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-confirms-its-first-monkeypox-death-2022-08-01/</a></span><br></br><br></br><br></br><span>India confirmed its…</span></p>
<p><span>#India confirms #Asia's first #monkeypox death. The 22-year-old #Indian man died on Saturday in #Kerala. It's only the fourth known fatality in the world from the disease in the current outbreak. #Modi #Disease #BJP #Hindutva #Health <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-confirms-its-first-monkeypox-death-2022-08-01/" target="_blank">https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-confirms-its-first-monkeypox-death-2022-08-01/</a></span><br/><br/><br/><span>India confirmed its first monkeypox death on Monday, a young man in the southern state of Kerala, in what is only the fourth known fatality from the disease in the current outbreak.</span><br/><br/><span>Last week, Spain reported two monkeypox-related deaths and Brazil its first. The death in India is also the first in Asia. The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a global health emergency on July 23.</span><br/><br/><span>The 22-year-old Indian man died on Saturday, Kerala's revenue minister told reporters, adding that the government had isolated 21 people who had come in contact with him.</span><br/><br/><span>"The person reached Kerala on July 21 but visited a hospital only on July 26 when he displayed fatigue and fever," Minister K. Rajan said, adding that there was no reason to panic as none of the primary contacts were showing symptoms.</span><br/><br/><span>Kerala's health minister, Veena George, told reporters on Sunday that the man's family told authorities the previous day that he had tested positive in the United Arab Emirates before returning to India.</span><br/><br/><span>India's federal health ministry had no comment on the death, except for saying that the government had formed a task force of senior officials to monitor monkeypox cases in the country, where local media have reported at least five infections.</span><br/><br/><span>The WHO said late last month 78 countries had reported more than 18,000 cases of monkeypox, the majority in Europe.</span><br/><br/><span>It says the monkeypox virus causes a disease with less severe symptoms than smallpox and occurs mainly in central and west Africa. The disease is transmitted from animals to humans.</span><br/><br/><span>Human-to-human transmission happens through contact with bodily fluids, lesions on the skin or on internal mucosal surfaces, such as in the mouth or throat, respiratory droplets and contaminated objects.</span></p> #India’s speedy approvals of…tag:www.pakalumni.com,2022-04-29:1119293:Comment:4075772022-04-29T02:07:58.640ZRiaz Haqhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profile/riazul
<p>#India’s speedy approvals of #COVID19 #vaccines come under fire. “It sets a dangerous precedent which could be very damaging for vaccine confidence and uptake down the road.” #Modi #BJP #pandemic #health <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/india-s-speedy-approvals-covid-19-vaccines-come-under-fire#.YmtHIDavjBo.twitter" target="_blank">https://www.science.org/content/article/india-s-speedy-approvals-covid-19-vaccines-come-under-fire#.YmtHIDavjBo.twitter</a><br></br><br></br>A COVID-19…</p>
<p>#India’s speedy approvals of #COVID19 #vaccines come under fire. “It sets a dangerous precedent which could be very damaging for vaccine confidence and uptake down the road.” #Modi #BJP #pandemic #health <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/india-s-speedy-approvals-covid-19-vaccines-come-under-fire#.YmtHIDavjBo.twitter" target="_blank">https://www.science.org/content/article/india-s-speedy-approvals-covid-19-vaccines-come-under-fire#.YmtHIDavjBo.twitter</a><br/><br/>A COVID-19 vaccine named Corbevax looked like a triumph for India’s burgeoning drug industry. Because its U.S. developers hadn’t claimed a patent on it, an Indian manufacturer named Biological E was able to sell the two-dose protein-based vaccine to the government at the extraordinarily low price of 145 rupees ($1.90) per dose. In March, the country began to give the shots to 12- to 14-year-olds, a group for which India did not yet have a licensed COVID-19 vaccine.<br/><br/>But the celebration was quickly drowned out by questions over whether India’s drug regulator, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), had properly vetted the vaccine.<br/><br/>In February, CDSCO had authorized the use of Corbevax for adolescents ages 12 to 18. But within weeks, the Indian media outlet The Wire Science revealed that the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI), an expert group that advises the health ministry on which vaccines to add to the national immunization program, had questioned whether Biological E had shown the vaccine is effective. In adolescents, who are at a lower risk of severe COVID-19, the benefits of a vaccine should be beyond any doubt, NTAGI member Jayaprakash Muliyil tells Science: “Anytime you vaccinate children, you have to be extremely careful.”<br/><br/>Other CDSCO approvals of COVID-19 vaccines have raised questions as well, both from NTAGI and independent experts. The agency has used “suboptimal” standards on several occasions, says Vineeta Bal, an immunologist at India’s National Institute of Immunology. That has led some scientists to ask whether the agency has the capabilities—and is independent enough—to oversee the quality of medicines for India’s 1.4 billion people. The implications go beyond India, because the country is a major global medicine supplier. The World Health Organization has “prequalified” 54 vaccines produced in India for use elsewhere, and WHO relies on CDSCO to oversee the manufacturers.<br/><br/>CDSCO didn’t respond to questions from Science about the criticism. In May 2020, India’s health ministry appointed a committee to advise it on how to restructure India’s drug regulatory system in line with global best practices, but that committee’s recommendations haven’t been published. It’s unclear whether they will address vaccine regulation.<br/><br/>--------<br/><br/>In January 2021, for example, the agency greenlit Covaxin, an inactivated-virus vaccine produced by Bharat Biotech, without data from large-scale efficacy trials—only phase 2 data about the immune response generated by the vaccine. By the time the company published data showing 78% efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19, 6 months later, millions of Indians had already received the shot.<br/><br/>NTAGI also differed with CDSCO’s assessment when the regulator approved a COVID-19 vaccine named ZyCoV-D for use in both adults and adolescents in August 2021. Produced by Zydus Cadila in Gujarat state, ZyCoV-D is the first DNA vaccine approved by any country for use in humans. CDSCO based its decision on results of a trial in about 28,000 participants over 12 years of age, which found the vaccine 67% efficacious at preventing symptomatic COVID-19.<br/><br/>NTAGI, which does not typically make its advice public, opposed the use in adolescents, Muliyil says; it felt a completely new vaccine platform should only be used in adults at first. Moreover, the phase 3 trial had a single efficacy estimate for all ages, says another NTAGI member who asked not to be identified, even though efficacy can differ by age group. (In Western countries, COVID-19 vaccines for adolescents and children were authorized after separate trials in those age groups.)</p>
<p class="comment-timestamp"></p> #India’s drug regulator has i…tag:www.pakalumni.com,2022-04-15:1119293:Comment:4072932022-04-15T23:51:10.427ZRiaz Haqhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profile/riazul
<p><span>#India’s drug regulator has ignored red alerts on #COVAXIN, imperiling millions of lives. World #Health Organization warned #UN agencies against procuring Covaxin, India’s indigenously developed & manufactured #COVID19 #vaccine. #Modi #Hindutva #Bharat…</span></p>
<p><span>#India’s drug regulator has ignored red alerts on #COVAXIN, imperiling millions of lives. World #Health Organization warned #UN agencies against procuring Covaxin, India’s indigenously developed & manufactured #COVID19 #vaccine. #Modi #Hindutva #Bharat <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2022/04/15/indias-drug-regulator-has-ignored-red-alerts-on-covaxin-imperiling-millions-of-lives/" target="_blank">https://www.statnews.com/2022/04/15/indias-drug-regulator-has-ignored-red-alerts-on-covaxin-imperiling-millions-of-lives/</a></span><br/><br/><span>Why are CDSCO and others treating Bharat Biotech with kid gloves?</span><br/><br/><span>The simple answer is that virtually all of India has thrown its weight behind Bharat Biotech because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s AatmaNirbhar policy, which broadly translates into a policy of economic self-reliance. This has meant special regulatory privileges for Covaxin, given its status as a made-in-India vaccine that was developed with the support of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).</span><br/><br/><span>--------</span><br/><br/><span>In a shocking turn of events, the World Health Organization warned United Nations agencies against procuring Covaxin, India’s indigenously developed and manufactured Covid-19 vaccine, just five months after granting approval to the made-in-India vaccine. The warning came after a WHO inspection of a manufacturing facility owned by Bharat Biotech International Ltd. revealed “deficiencies in good manufacturing practices.”</span><br/><br/><span>The WHO has not revealed the extent or nature of the deficiencies at Bharat Biotech’s facility; but given its recent instructions to U.N. agencies, the deficiency must have been significant from a public health perspective. Violations of current good manufacturing processes is nothing new to the Indian pharmaceutical industry. There is a sordid history of warning letters from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration documenting systematic compliance issues over the last decade. Foreign inspections all but ceased during the pandemic. Agencies such as the WHO rely on national regulatory agencies like the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), which regulates the pharmaceutical industry in India, to assess compliance before granting approval for commercial use of a drug.</span><br/><br/><span>This is not the first time that a foreign regulator has found problems with the manufacturing facility at Bharat Biotech that produces Covaxin. Exactly one year ago, the Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária (ANVISA), Brazil’s drug regulator, pointed out serious lapses at Bharat Biotech’s manufacturing facility in India that makes this vaccine. ANVISA inspectors discovered issues with quality control at the facility that are meant to confirm that the live virus at the core of this vaccine has been inactivated.</span><br/><br/><span>At the time, the CDSCO remained a mute spectator to the affair and gave no assurances to the Indian public on measures it was taking to ensure that Bharat Biotech fixed these issues. It has followed the same path of silence since the WHO’s recent suspension of Covaxin’s procurement by the United Nations.</span><br/><br/><span>As I write this, not a single newspaper in India has been able to identify the exact nature of the deficiency the WHO raised, and few in India seem to be concerned about the implications of the WHO’s action, despite the fact that Covaxin is being administered to children in India.</span></p> Seattle #startup claims #Indi…tag:www.pakalumni.com,2022-03-24:1119293:Comment:4072252022-03-24T01:41:02.418ZRiaz Haqhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profile/riazul
<p>Seattle #startup claims #India-based drugmaker stole #COVID19 #mRNA #vaccine #tech, seeks $950M <a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2022/seattle-startup-claims-india-based-drugmaker-stole-covid-19-vaccine-tech-seeks-950m/" target="_blank">https://www.geekwire.com/2022/seattle-startup-claims-india-based-drugmaker-stole-covid-19-vaccine-tech-seeks-950m/</a> via @GeekWire<br></br><br></br>(Reuters) - Seattle biopharma company HDT Bio Corp has sued Indian generic drugmaker Emcure Pharmaceuticals Ltd in…</p>
<p>Seattle #startup claims #India-based drugmaker stole #COVID19 #mRNA #vaccine #tech, seeks $950M <a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2022/seattle-startup-claims-india-based-drugmaker-stole-covid-19-vaccine-tech-seeks-950m/" target="_blank">https://www.geekwire.com/2022/seattle-startup-claims-india-based-drugmaker-stole-covid-19-vaccine-tech-seeks-950m/</a> via @GeekWire<br/><br/>(Reuters) - Seattle biopharma company HDT Bio Corp has sued Indian generic drugmaker Emcure Pharmaceuticals Ltd in U.S. court for allegedly stealing RNA-delivery technology to use in its COVID-19 vaccine.<br/><br/>HDT's lawsuit, filed Monday in Seattle federal court, also said Emcure was planning to go public in India based on the stolen technology, and misappropriated trade secrets that HDT licensed to an Emcure subsidiary.<br/><br/><br/>The lawsuit adds to a growing number of recent intellectual-property disputes involving Pfizer, Moderna, and others over the use of mRNA technology in COVID-19 vaccines.<br/><br/><br/>HDT requested at least $950 million in damages and a court order permanently banning Emcure from using its secrets.<br/><br/>An Emcure spokesperson said Tuesday that the company was not involved with the license. Emcure "has no connection whatsoever with the matter" and is "initiating steps to have the claims dismissed," the spokesperson said.<br/><br/>HDT did not immediately respond to requests for comment.<br/><br/>HDT said in the lawsuit that is developing a self-amplyifing RNA (saRNA) vaccine for COVID-19. According to HDT, saRNA improves on existing mRNA vaccine technology by reducing the risk of side effects like myocarditis and allowing for shots to be given with lower dosages and kept in standard refrigerators.<br/><br/>The lawsuit said HDT licensed its technology to Emcure subsidiary Gennova Biopharmaceuticals to develop a COVID-19 vaccine in India. However, Emcure allegedly claimed the technology as its own in late 2021.<br/><br/>HDT said it was filing a separate arbitration action against Gennova in London related to the claims.<br/><br/>Emcure applied for two Indian patents on HDT's technology and filed for an IPO in India that falsely describes its "indigenously developed" vaccine with a "proprietary mRNA platform," the lawsuit said.<br/><br/>Gennova allegedly terminated its license agreement with HDT at Emcure's request shortly after its CEO told HDT it would not pay royalties on vaccine sales.<br/><br/>The lawsuit said it would be "stunning" if Emcure developed the vaccine on its own, considering it did not have prior experience with RNA vaccines or a record of developing original products.<br/><br/>"Emcure's Cinderella story is a fairy tale spun to lure investors to a generics maker whose prior attempt to go public failed for lack of interest," HDT said.<br/><br/>The case is HDT Bio Corp v. Emcure Pharmaceuticals Ltd, U.S. District Court for the District of Washington, No. 2:22-cv-00334.<br/><br/></p>
<p class="comment-timestamp"></p> Innovation alone won’t end CO…tag:www.pakalumni.com,2022-02-19:1119293:Comment:4069132022-02-19T00:34:02.293ZRiaz Haqhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profile/riazul
<p><span>Innovation alone won’t end COVID-19</span><br></br><span>Tahir Amin</span><br></br><br></br><span><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-022-01298-7" target="_blank">https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-022-01298-7</a></span><br></br><br></br><span>The only way to break this cycle of inequity is to suspend the IP on the vaccines and COVID-19-related treatments, while also compelling pharmaceutical companies to share their know-how to allow other potential manufacturers to scale up supplies.…</span></p>
<p><span>Innovation alone won’t end COVID-19</span><br/><span>Tahir Amin</span><br/><br/><span><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-022-01298-7" target="_blank">https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-022-01298-7</a></span><br/><br/><span>The only way to break this cycle of inequity is to suspend the IP on the vaccines and COVID-19-related treatments, while also compelling pharmaceutical companies to share their know-how to allow other potential manufacturers to scale up supplies. Over a year has passed since South Africa and India submitted a proposal requesting a waiver of IP under the World Trade Organization’s international Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (more commonly known as the TRIPS waiver). ...</span><br/><br/><span>Market enthusiasts, who are against waiving IP, have made a variety of arguments to justify their reasoning — while simultaneously moving the goalposts as it suits them to deflect any counterarguments and facts. One of the key arguments made by countries and pharmaceutical companies blocking the TRIPS waiver is that there are no other manufacturers in the world that can make the vaccines — in particular, the new mRNA versions. However, thanks to investigative journalism at the New York Times (<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/10/22/science/developing-country-covid-vaccines.html" target="_blank">https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/10/22/science/developing-country-covid-vaccines.html</a>) and extensive research by AccessIBSA and Medicines Sans Frontieres that identified over 100 potential manufactures in the Global South that can potentially make mRNA vaccine, this has been dispelled (<a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/12/15/experts-identify-100-plus-firms-make-covid-19-mrna-vaccines" target="_blank">https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/12/15/experts-identify-100-plus-firms-make-covid-19-mrna-vaccines</a>).</span><br/><br/><span>The ultimate argument that underlies resistance to waiving IP is the belief that doing so will harm innovation and future progress because pharmaceutical companies will be disincentivized to invest in future drug research and development. Here lies the crux of the issue if we are to address not only vaccine inequity, but also future pandemics and crises such as climate change. Western capitalism, and the hyper-financialized version of it we live in today, believes that the IP system is the best way to drive innovation and progress, including economic. It is a Faustian bargain that the system has made, cultivating a culture and belief that innovation and technological progress alone will solve all our problems. Those defending this bargain believe the individual good that the IP system incentivizes will benefit the collective good.</span><br/><br/><span>This pandemic has clearly shown us that the current IP system does not benefit the collective good. It only focuses on resolving part of the problem — that of innovation and technological progress. It does not solve the individualistic behaviour of nation states, corporations and humans generally, in terms of being incentivized to serve the collective good, unless there is some power and financial gain to be had. That it has taken this pandemic to see this even when many people in some of the richest countries struggle to pay for their medicines daily shows why vaccine inequity is a symptom of a larger problem within our market-driven global health system.</span><br/><br/><span>No amount of innovation and technology will change our morals and selfishness, and we live in a world in which leaders refuse to address this challenge. The idea of rewiring ourselves to think about the collective good is usually met with a shrug that it is our human nature to be selfish. It is time our leaders incentivized the collective good to address this pandemic and other impending crises, rather than clinging to the current system that only serves a few and fuels division. By doing so we may realize that everyone can win and be safe, including the economy — which is what the defenders of the IP system and market enthusiasts care most about.</span></p> Between April 15 and May 15,…tag:www.pakalumni.com,2021-11-25:1119293:Comment:4045522021-11-25T18:34:11.351ZRiaz Haqhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profile/riazul
<p><span>Between April 15 and May 15, 2021, 3732 individuals had an RT-PCR test. Of these, 2714 symptomatic employees had data on vaccination status, and 1068 matched case-control pairs were available for analysis. The adjusted effectiveness of BBV152 against symptomatic COVID-19 after two doses administered at least 14 days before testing was 50% (95% CI 33–62; p<0·0001). The adjusted effectiveness of two doses administered at least 28 days before testing was 46% (95% CI 22–62) and…</span></p>
<p><span>Between April 15 and May 15, 2021, 3732 individuals had an RT-PCR test. Of these, 2714 symptomatic employees had data on vaccination status, and 1068 matched case-control pairs were available for analysis. The adjusted effectiveness of BBV152 against symptomatic COVID-19 after two doses administered at least 14 days before testing was 50% (95% CI 33–62; p<0·0001). The adjusted effectiveness of two doses administered at least 28 days before testing was 46% (95% CI 22–62) and administered at least 42 days before testing was 57% (21–76). After excluding participants with previous SARS-CoV-2 infections, the adjusted effectiveness of two doses administered at least 14 days before testing was 47% (95% CI 29–61).</span><br/><span><a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099" target="_blank">https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099</a>(2100674-5/fulltext</span><br/><span>The vaccine effectiveness estimated in our study is lower than the efficacy announced after completion of the phase 3 trial, despite a similar testing strategy being used (SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR testing for participants with symptoms suggestive of COVID-19 determined through weekly telephone follow-up).3 Several factors might be responsible for the observation of a lower effectiveness in this study. First, the population included in our study comprised only hospital employees, who might have been exposed to a higher risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection than the general population. The study was conducted during the peak of the second wave of COVID-19 in India, with high test-positivity rates for both hospital employees and residents of Delhi. On April 26, 2021, the test-positivity rate for Delhi was around 35%,7 which was the highest it had been since the beginning of the pandemic. Thus, our results might only reflect the performance of BBV152 under such surge conditions. Second, the prevalence of circulating variants of concern, especially the delta variant, might have contributed to lower effectiveness of BBV152. Although in-vitro studies have shown neutralisation of these variants by both convalescent and post-vaccine sera, the neutralisation titres are several times lesser against variants, particularly the delta variant.8, 9 The phase 3 trial of BBV152 was conducted during a period when the overall test-positivity rate was low, and the prevalence of the delta variant among positive cases was largely unknown. By contrast, at the end of April, 2021, a period during which this study was conducted, the delta variant was the dominant strain, making up more than 80% of all sequenced genomes as per the reports from the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genome Sequencing Consortia.10</span></p> ‘Indian homegrown Covid vacci…tag:www.pakalumni.com,2021-11-25:1119293:Comment:4044572021-11-25T18:33:40.559ZRiaz Haqhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profile/riazul
<p><span>‘Indian homegrown Covid vaccine only 50% effective’</span><br></br><span>Experts say despite horrible performance of health system, New Delhi hailed indigenous vaccine as a major success</span><br></br><br></br><br></br><br></br><span><a href="https://tribune.com.pk/story/2331063/indian-homegrown-covid-vaccine-only-50-effective" target="_blank">https://tribune.com.pk/story/2331063/indian-homegrown-covid-vaccine-only-50-effective</a></span><br></br><br></br><br></br><br></br><span>India’s homegrown Covid-19 vaccine is…</span></p>
<p><span>‘Indian homegrown Covid vaccine only 50% effective’</span><br/><span>Experts say despite horrible performance of health system, New Delhi hailed indigenous vaccine as a major success</span><br/><br/><br/><br/><span><a href="https://tribune.com.pk/story/2331063/indian-homegrown-covid-vaccine-only-50-effective" target="_blank">https://tribune.com.pk/story/2331063/indian-homegrown-covid-vaccine-only-50-effective</a></span><br/><br/><br/><br/><span>India’s homegrown Covid-19 vaccine is only 50 per cent effective against symptomatic infections during the peak of the country’s deadly second wave, according to new research.</span><br/><br/><span>The new data analysed over 1,000 Covid-19 cases with a test-negative control case group, matching by age and gender, according to the study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal.</span><br/><br/><span>The experts say that India despite the horrible performance of its health system, which totally collapsed during the second wave of Covid-19, celebrated its indigenous vaccine as a major success.</span><br/><br/><span>Recently, India also celebrated achieving its one billion vaccination target as a unique milestone, but the recent study has “badly exposed the reality of such claims”.</span><br/><br/><span>The Modi government has been promoting the indigenous vaccine among healthcare workers, and so far, 138 million doses have been administered in the country.</span><br/><br/><span>However, the vaccine’s rollout was marked by controversy as it was approved in the country before its third trial data was released.</span><br/><br/><span>The vaccine, developed by Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, was recently approved by the WHO technical committee and was included in the list of acceptable vaccines, but only after a wait of four months.</span><br/><br/><span>This is the first real-world assessment of Covaxin, which is one of the two main vaccines being used in India’s inoculation drive.</span><br/><br/><span>Also read: Many 'challenges' ahead in India’s coronavirus vaccination program</span><br/><br/><span>The real-world study for Covaxin, conducted April 15-May 15, compares with a 77.8% effectiveness rate in a late-stage trial of more than 25,000 participants that was conducted from November 2020 to January 2021.</span><br/><br/><span>The study included 2,714 health workers from Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences, who were showing signs of infection and underwent RT-PCR testing between 15 April and 15 May, the peak of India’s second wave of coronavirus crisis. The study was published in The Lancet medical journal on Nov 24, 2021.</span><br/><br/><span>All the medical workers were inoculated with two doses of Covaxin at least 14 days before and had a high risk of exposure to the virus.</span><br/><br/><span>The study said that half the participants were found to have symptomatic Covid-19 as confirmed by RT-PCR tests.</span><br/><br/><span>Researchers found that the adjusted effectiveness of Covaxin against symptomatic Covid-19 was at 50 per cent overall, lower than the 77.8 per cent that interim tests results. After excluding participants with previous Covid-19 infections, the adjusted effectiveness dropped to 47 per cent.</span><br/><br/><span>The analysts are of the view that the report clearly indicates that Indian attempt to boost a false sense of superiority pushed its frontline medical and common citizen towards a medical disaster as witnessed during the catastrophic failure of the Indian medical system.</span><br/><br/><span>It has also been reported by Indian media that many of the Indian celebrities, political leaders, and wealthy businessmen and their families got vaccinated from UK and US, as they never trusted the claims of effectiveness of the Indian vaccine.</span><br/><br/><span>Ironically, India once again resorted to false claims to project itself as a leader in the pharmaceutical industry endangering its own population.</span></p> India’s Homegrown Vaccine Gav…tag:www.pakalumni.com,2021-11-25:1119293:Comment:4045512021-11-25T18:32:57.325ZRiaz Haqhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profile/riazul
<p><span>India’s Homegrown Vaccine Gave Lower Protection in Delta Wave Chris Kay Bookmark November 24 2021, 12:30 AM November 24 2021, 10:45 AM (Bloomberg) -- Covaxin, one of the main vaccines used in India’s coronavirus immunization drive, provides only 50% protection against symptomatic Covid-19, according to a real-world study that suggests the shot is less effective than initially thought. As India…</span><br></br><br></br></p>
<p><span>India’s Homegrown Vaccine Gave Lower Protection in Delta Wave Chris Kay Bookmark November 24 2021, 12:30 AM November 24 2021, 10:45 AM (Bloomberg) -- Covaxin, one of the main vaccines used in India’s coronavirus immunization drive, provides only 50% protection against symptomatic Covid-19, according to a real-world study that suggests the shot is less effective than initially thought. As India</span><br/><br/><span><a href="https://www.bloombergquint.com/coronavirus-outbreak/covaxin-gave-lower-protection-amid-india-s-deadly-delta-led-wave" target="_blank">https://www.bloombergquint.com/coronavirus-outbreak/covaxin-gave-lower-protection-amid-india-s-deadly-delta-led-wave</a></span><br/><br/><span>As India was slammed by its second major Covid wave earlier this year, researchers at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi analyzed data from 2,714 of the hospital’s health workers who were showing signs of infection and underwent RT-PCR testing between April 15 and May 15, according to a study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal. At the start of the country’s vacci</span><br/><br/><span>At the start of the country’s vaccination campaign in January, staff at AIIMS had exclusively been offered Covaxin, a shot co-developed by India’s state-funded health research agency and local company Bharat Biotech International Ltd. The authors found that two weeks or more after completing a two-dose regime the vaccine’s adjusted effectiveness against symptomatic Covid was lower than the 77.8%</span><br/><br/><span>The authors found that two weeks or more after completing a two-dose regime the vaccine’s adjusted effectiveness against symptomatic Covid was lower than the 77.8% that interim results established during final stage tests, a study of which was published in The Lancet earlier this month. High infection rates and virus exposure among the hospital’s employees may have contributed to Covaxin’s weaker</span><br/><br/><span>Covaxin’s weaker real-world efficacy, along with the possibility that the then recently emerged delta variant blunted the shot’s protection, the researchers said. “Our study offers a more complete picture of how BBV152 performs in the field and should be considered in the context of Covid-19 surge conditions in India, combined with the possible immune evasive potential of the delta variant,” Mani Soneja, an additional professor of medicine at AIIMS in New Delhi, said in a statement referring to the vaccine’s scientific name. Read more: India’s Covaxin Found 77.8% Effective in Lancet Covid Study While various studies indicate almost all Covid vaccines show reduced effectiveness against the highly infectious delta variant, which began its rampant spread across India in early 2021, the new research on Covaxin may dent the inoculation’s appeal at a time when Bharat Biotech is scaling up manufacturing and as India restarts overseas vaccine shipments. So far more than 130 million doses of Covaxin have been administered in India. Bharat Biotech and India’s government, which has widely promoted the shot, have sought to close the door on controversies involving the vaccine’s early authorization in January before it had completed phase 3 human trials, prompting widespread hesitancy in the country at the time. The World Health Organization’s independent technical panel also took months before granting emergency approval to Covaxin in early November, repeatedly asking Bharat Biotech for further data. Krishna Ella, chairman of the Hyderabad-based vaccine maker, said the WHO green light took as long as it did because of criticism surrounding the shot, which was developed using traditional inactivated-virus technology. The researchers said the AIIMs study didn’t estimate the vaccine’s effectiveness against hospitalization, severe disease and death, while acknowledging that it wasn’t designed to estimate the vaccine’s effectiveness against hospitalization, severe disease and death, while acknowledging that it wasn’t designed to estimate protection over different time intervals. Patients weren’t tested to find if they were symptomatic due to a specific variant and the authors also pointed to the lack of data on comorbidities and prior infections.</span></p> #COVID19 kills 6 fully vaccin…tag:www.pakalumni.com,2021-07-03:1119293:Comment:4008162021-07-03T01:34:59.643ZRiaz Haqhttp://www.pakalumni.com/profile/riazul
<p>#COVID19 kills 6 fully vaccinated people in #Seychelles, despite inoculating a greater proportion of its people than any other nation. Of those, 5 had taken Covishield version of the AstraZeneca #vaccine made in #India, & 1 had received #China's Sinopharm…</p>
<p>#COVID19 kills 6 fully vaccinated people in #Seychelles, despite inoculating a greater proportion of its people than any other nation. Of those, 5 had taken Covishield version of the AstraZeneca #vaccine made in #India, & 1 had received #China's Sinopharm <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-02/u-k-and-eu-try-to-ease-travel-fears-over-india-s-astra-vaccine" target="_blank">https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-02/u-k-and-eu-try-to-ease-travel-fears-over-india-s-astra-vaccine</a></p>
<p>Of those, five had taken Covishield, a version of the AstraZeneca Plc vaccine made in India, and one had been given Sinopharm, Jude Gedeon, the island nation’s public health commissioner said at a press conference on Thursday. Covishield has mainly been reserved for people over 60 in the Seychelles. All of those who died had serious underlying conditions, he said.</p>
<p>The rise in infections, which surged at the beginning of May and has remained at elevated levels ever since, is likely due to the arrival of the highly-transmissible delta variant, which was first identified in India, Gedeon said.</p>
<p>“It looks like delta came in Seychelles in May which explain the surge at the beginning of May,” Gedeon said. “We presume that the majority of cases we got in May was from that variant.”</p>
<p>The palm-fringed archipelago had rushed to inoculate its 98,000 people so that it could reopen to tourism, the lifeblood of its economy. It had to impose restrictions on gatherings and opening times for bars and restaurants after the initial surge and has maintained those.</p>
<p>“For the last three weeks a team of experts from World Health Organization and Africa Centers for Disease Control have been working with us to evaluate our vaccination rate, data and response,” Gedeon said. “They will produce a report which will help us decide on the strategy to be used moving forward in terms of vaccination, measures etc.”</p>
<p>Frequent genomic studies have been reccomended, he said.</p>