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This Article is From Jan 23, 2021

Latest NEWS Highlights:: "Vaccine Safe", Says Adar Poonawalla On Serum Institute Fire

Latest News Updates: "No actual vaccine was actually being produced there, so there was no damage to any vaccine," CEO Adar Poonawalla said.

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India News Edited by Deepika Pundir, Nonika Marwaha

Updated : January 23, 2021 6:52 am IST

Latest News Updates: 5 people died in fire that broke out at Serum Institute of India. (File)

New Delhi:

A day after a massive fire at vaccine-maker Serum Institute of India's Pune facility, in which five people died, CEO Adar Poonawalla said there was no damage to any vaccine as none were being produced at the site.

"This was a brand new facility. It was for the future production of BCG and Rotavirus. No actual vaccine was actually being produced there, so there was no damage to any vaccine," Mr Poonawalla said, addressing a joint press conference with Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

The Serum CEO added that there was no damage to Covishield, the coronavirus vaccine being used in India's Covid inoculation drive. "Where Covishield is manufactured and stored, no damage was done to that," he said.

Nearly 10.5 lakh beneficiaries have received anti-coronavirus shots under the countrywide COVID-19 vaccination exercise as on date, the Union Health Ministry said on Friday. In a span of 24 hours, 2,37,050 people were vaccinated across 4,049 sessions. A total of 18,167 sessions have been conducted so far. On the testing front too, India continues to register growing numbers, the ministry said.

India added 14,545 coronavirus cases today, placing its overall number at 1.06 crore cases, the Health Ministry's data showed. The number of fresh infections reported on Sunday were 4 per cent lower than on Thursday. In this period, India reported 163 deaths linked to the virus, taking the total number of fatalities to 1,53,032.

Here are the highlights:

Jan 23, 2021 04:59 (IST)

Madhya Pradesh records 347 new COVID-19 cases

Madhya Pradesh's COVID-19 tally rose to 2,53,114 as 347 people tested positive for the infection on Friday, an health department official said. As many as 463 patients were discharged from hospitals in the state in the last 24 hours, while four others died of due to the infection, the official said.

With this, the deaths in the state stood at 3,780, and the number of recoveries has risen to 2,44,855, he said. Indore, Bhopal, Damoh and Rajgarh district recorded one fatality each, the official said.

Jan 23, 2021 04:21 (IST)

Florida to require proof of residence for Covid vaccines

Florida will require proof of residence for those getting a Covid shot in a push to thwart so-called "vaccine tourism," a move experts say could also leave thousands of undocumented immigrants, homeless and low-income people in the lurch.

The decision came after residents of other states and even people from abroad were reportedly arriving in Florida -- which currently vaccinates anyone over age 65 -- with an aim of gaining easier access to immunization.

While the state has administered more than 1.3 million doses, the process has been slow and chaotic.

In a public advisory issued Thursday, Florida's Surgeon General Scott Rivkees indicated that applicants must show proof of residence -- such as driver's license, utility bill or letter from a bank -- in order to be immunized.

Jan 23, 2021 03:47 (IST)

New York state runs out of Covid-19 vaccines: governor

New York state was to run out of coronavirus vaccines on Friday, Governor Andrew Cuomo said, increasing pressure on President Joe Biden's administration to speed up deliveries.

"NYS will use up our first dose vaccine allocations today. But our next allocation is coming throughout the week," Cuomo wrote on Twitter.

"Providers should ONLY schedule appointments for allocations they know they'll receive. We want to avoid all cancelations," he added.

Biden took office this week with a pledge to reenergize America's faltering vaccination program.

Jan 23, 2021 03:28 (IST)

Rio de Janeiro scraps 2021 carnival over coronavirus woes

Rio de Janeiro will not host its famous carnival this year due to a deadly revival of the coronavirus epidemic in Brazil, the city's mayor Eduardo Paes has announced.

Rio's samba schools, which organize the celebratory parades, had hoped to hold the signature event in July after it was postponed from its usual slot in February or March.

But this depended on a national vaccination campaign being well and truly under way.

In reality, Brazil's inoculation drive only started Monday with an initial six million doses available for the country's 212 million inhabitants.

The carnival draws millions of visitors, and their tourist dollars, to the beachside city each year.

Jan 23, 2021 03:04 (IST)

Made in India vaccines arrive in Brazil

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Jan 23, 2021 02:44 (IST)

Bangladesh to start covid vaccinations next week

Bangladesh received two million coronavirus vaccine doses from India Thursday, with the government saying it plans to start inoculating the population of 168 million people next week.

The South Asian nation was one of several countries to receive a free supply of AstraZeneca-Oxford's Covishield vaccine from India as a gift.

The drug is being produced by India's Serum Insitute, the world's biggest vaccine manufacturer.

Health Minister Zahid Maleque said Bangladesh is buying a further 30 million doses of the vaccine and expects to receive monthly consignments of five million doses.

Impoverished Bangladesh has seen 8,000 people die from coronavirus, although the pandemic has not been as bad as feared in a country that is home to packed cities and just 600 intensive care beds.

Jan 23, 2021 02:32 (IST)

AstraZeneca Warns Of Limited Coronavirus Vaccine Supplies To Europe
British pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca warned Friday that supplies of its coronavirus vaccine to Europe will be "lower than originally anticipated" due to reduced production at a manufacturing site. Read Here

Jan 23, 2021 02:11 (IST)

30,000 more health workers get COVID vaccine shot in West Bengal

Over 30,000 frontline health workers were vaccinated for COVID-19 in West Bengal on Friday, taking the total number of people who got the jab to 84,505, a senior official of the health department said.

Out of the set target of 35,100 for Friday, 30,517 received Covishield doses in 351 centres across the state during the day. Eleven cases of adverse event following immunization (AEFI), mostly minor, were reported, the official said.

"All the AEFI cases reported so far are doing well. The nurse who was admitted to the CCU of the Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital (in Kolkata on January 16) with AEFI was also discharged today," the official said.

Jan 23, 2021 01:33 (IST)

Three new COVID-19 cases in Mizoram; schools reopen for students of Classes 10, 12

Three more persons have tested positive for COVID-19 in Mizoram, taking the tally to 4,349,

an official said on Friday. The fresh cases were reported from Aizawl district.

After a gap of about three months, schools across the state reopened their classrooms on Friday for students who would shortly be appearing for their board examination, the official said. Both the government and private schools along with hostels reopened for students of classes 10 and 12, amid strict adherence to COVID-19 guidelines, he said.

However, students have to undergo the rapid antigen test before entering hostels. Online classes will continue for students of other classes, he said.

Schools in Mizoram had reopened on October 16 last year for students of classes 10 and 12 but were again closed due to a rise in COVID-19 cases.

Jan 23, 2021 01:12 (IST)

Belgium bans non-essential foreign trips from Wednesday

Belgium will ban non-essential trips in and out of the country from Wednesday in a bid to curb the spread of highly contagious coronavirus variants, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said.

The prohibition will run to March 1 and apply to land, sea and air travel but will not affect cross-border workers or those with overriding health or family reasons.

"We are not going to build a wall around Belgium. We can go to other countries but only for essential reasons," De Croo told a media conference on Friday.

The announcement comes a day after a European Union summit by videoconference during which leaders decided against barring travel across the EU's internal borders.

They instead "strongly discouraged" nonessential intra-EU trips, and warned they might toughen that line in days ahead if the worrying virus variants took hold.

Jan 23, 2021 00:44 (IST)

Only 45 % beneficiaries in Telangana take COVID-19 vaccine on Friday

Out of the 28,433 beneficiaries scheduled to take the COVID-19 vaccine shot in Telangana on Friday, only 12,944 beneficiaries (45.5 per cent) were vaccinated, the state health department informed.

All 33 districts in the state conducted vaccinations for central and state healthcare workers in 489 sessions.

As many as five people reported Adverse Effect After Vaccination (AEFI) and their health are stable.

A total of 64 per cent of all beneficiaries have been vaccinated in the state so far. No serious/severe cases of AEFI have been reported.

Jan 23, 2021 00:32 (IST)

Punjab: Samples of another poultry farm suspected to be positive for bird flu

Samples collected from a poultry farm in Punjab''s Mohali district were sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD), Bhopal, after it was suspected that they were positive for bird flu, officials said on Friday.

After receiving a report of suspected cases of Avian Influenza at a poultry farm at Behra village in Mohali from the Northern Regional Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (NRDDL), Jalandhar, the Animal Husbandry Department has sent the samples to NIHSAD for confirmation, Additional Chief Secretary V K Janjua said in a statement here.

He also said 11,200 birds of a poultry farm, whose samples had tested positive for avian influenza, were culled on Friday.

Jan 22, 2021 23:22 (IST)

WHO, Pfizer Announce Deal For 40 Million Vaccine Doses For Poorer Countries
The WHO and pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer on Friday announced a deal for up to 40 million initial doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for poorer countries, through Covax global pool.

Jan 22, 2021 22:32 (IST)

Serum Institute Fire Causes Loss Of Over ₹ 1,000 Crore: Adar Poonawalla

The Serum Institute of India (SII) said it has suffered losses of over Rs 1,000 crore due to the massive fire that broke out a day before at its premises in Pune, while Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said that whether the blaze was an accident or sabotage will be known once the probe gets over.

Five contractual labourers died in the fire that broke out in a five-storey building in the SII's Manjari premises in Pune on Thursday.

The chief minister visited the SII today to take stock of the damages. He later addressed a press conference with Adar Poonawalla, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the SII

Jan 22, 2021 21:43 (IST)

India Says No COVID-19 Vaccine Request From Pakistan

India is supplying COVID-19 vaccines being manufactured in the country to neighbouring countries including Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Myanmar and Bangladesh but has not received any request from Pakistan.

Addressing the weekly media briefing, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said there is an interest in accessing vaccines from India, which is the global hub of vaccine production.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had stated that India's vaccine production and delivery capacity will be used for the benefit of all humanity to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Jan 22, 2021 20:17 (IST)

Gurgaon Health Worker Who Got Vaccine Last Week Dies, Autopsy Awaited

A 56-year-old healthcare worker in Gurgaon, who was given the Covishield coronavirus vaccine last Saturday, died in the early hours today. The cause of the death is not yet known, and her body has been sent for an autopsy, doctors said.

According to her family, Rajwanti did not wake up in the morning and was brought dead at the Medanta hospital. She did not have any reaction to the vaccine on the day it was administered, they said.

"Only after the post-mortem report comes, the cause of Rajwanti's death will be known. Till then it will not be right to say that Rajwanti died due to the vaccine," Gurgaon's Chief Medical Officer Dr Virendra Yadav said.

Jan 22, 2021 19:21 (IST)

India's Vaccine Diplomacy Shows Off A Huge Strength: Foreign Media

India only started vaccinating its own population against the coronavirus a few days ago, but it is already using its manufacturing heft to generate goodwill with its neighbors.

The government has made the calculation that it has enough vaccines to share. The result is a form of vaccine diplomacy that appears to be unlike any other in the world.

Since Wednesday, the Indian government has sent free vaccines to Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Maldives - more than 3.2 million doses in total. Donations to Mauritius, Myanmar and Seychelles are set to follow. Sri Lanka and Afghanistan are next on the list.

Jan 22, 2021 18:49 (IST)

Coronavirus Latest News: Delhi Reports 266 Fresh Cases, 7 Deaths

Delhi recorded 266 fresh COVID-19 cases and seven deaths due to the virus on Friday, with the positivity rate rising to 0.37 per cent.

The tally of COVID-19 cases stood at over 6,33,542 in the city and the death count due to the viral disease mounted to 10,789, authorities said.

The tally of active cases in the city stood at 2,060, while the positivity rate rose to 0.37 per cent, according to the latest bulletin issued by the Delhi Health Department.

On Thursday, the positivity rate was at 0.28 pc.

On Monday, the city had recorded 161 COVID-19 cases, the lowest in nearly nine months, with a positivity rate of 0.32 per cent.

On April 26, the city had recorded 293 cases, according to official data.

The bulletin said the total number of containment zones in the national capital stood at 1,629.

Jan 22, 2021 18:08 (IST)

"Vaccine Safe": Adar Poonawalla, Uddhav Thackeray On Serum Institute Fire

A day after a massive fire at vaccine-maker Serum Institute of India's Pune facility, in which five people died, CEO Adar Poonawalla said the supply of the coronavirus vaccine Covishield would not be affected.

"This was a brand new facility. It was for the future production of BCG and Rotavirus. No actual vaccine was actually being produced there, so there was no damage to any vaccine," Mr Poonawalla said, addressing a joint press conference with Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.

The Serum CEO added that there was no damage to Covishield, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine being used in India's Covid inoculation drive. "Where Covishield is manufactured and stored, no damage was done to that," he said.

Jan 22, 2021 17:51 (IST)

COVID-19 LIVE Updates: 1.38 Lakh People Administered First Dose Of Vaccine In Karnataka

Out of 1,38,656 people who have been administered the first dose of vaccine in Karnataka, the side effect has appeared in some, but no causality has been reported yet, said the state Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Friday.

Briefing media about the vaccination process in the state, Dr Sudhakar said Serum Institute of India's (SII) vaccine COVISHIELD has been administered to 1,36,882 people while Bharat Biotech''s COVAXIN has been administered to 1,774 people in the state.

"2 per cent to 3.5 per cent people have developed some sort of side effect. 8,47,908 lakh people have registered for vaccination in the first phase. Out of which 3,27,201 are government health warriors and 4,45,389 are private health warriors. Today we will be receiving another 1,46,240 doses of COVAXIN," he stated.

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