Coronavirus News LATEST Updates: The UK’s regulatory authority on Friday approved a third COVID-19 vaccine for use in the country, made by the company Moderna. However, supplies of the new jab are not expected to be available until the spring in a few weeks’ time as the UK has pre-ordered 7 million doses. In trials with more than 30,000, the Moderna vaccine offered nearly 95 per cent protection from severe COVID. The Moderna vaccine works in a similar way to the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine that is already being offered by the National Health Service (NHS). It requires temperatures of around -20C for shipping — similar to a normal freezer. In comparison, the Pfizer/BioNTech one requires temperatures closer to -75C, making transport logistics much more difficult. The Oxford/AstraZeneca jab is easier to store and distribute, as it can be kept at normal fridge temperature. All three vaccines, now cleared for use in the UK, require a second booster shot. In the first such case in Madhya Pradesh, a 39-year-old man who returned to Indore from the UK last month has tested positive for the new coronavirus strain, PTI reported. The patient, who is asymptomatic, has been placed in home isolation, district collector Manish Singh said. It was the first case of infection of the UK variant of the virus in the state, said Dr Veena Sinha, additional director, MP Health Department. After returning from the UK, the man had come in contact with 39 people, 34 of them from outside Indore district.. These 34 people were contacted and informed about his status. The remaining five, including two of the patient’s family members, are from Indore and have undergone COVID-19 tests and are in good health. Karnataka health minister K Sudhakar on Friday said the state is expected to receive 13,90,000 vials of vaccine against COVID-19 in a day or two, and it is likely to be administered starting from 11 January. “The big good news for Karnataka is that I have received information from the Union Health Ministry that tomorrow or the day after probably we will be receiving 13,90,000 vials of vaccine for the state. It’s a big happy news for all of us,” he said. Speaking to reporters after visiting a private hospital, where vaccination dry run is being conducted, Sudhakar said, the vaccination will be first administered to healthcare workers. “We have registered 6.30 lakh healthcare professionals in Karnataka till date. Those who are left out, may be in some medical or dental colleges, we have requested them to register,” he said adding that health workers will be followed by those with comorbidities, those above 60 years and those in other departments like Police and Revenue working against the pandemic. All those arriving from the UK, who test positive will be kept in an isolation facility, said Arvind Kejriwal. We need about $7 billion in order to deliver enough vaccine to these countries through the end of 2021, said Kate O’Brien, WHO immunization director. The Centre has started a new COVID platform to track particulars of potential vaccine beneficiaries and also issue electronic certificates to them, said the health minister after reviewing the dry run of COVID-19 vaccine in Chennai hospital. The number of daily COVID-19 recoveries is increasing exponentially and stands at 10,037,398, the Union health ministry said on Friday. The Union health ministry on Friday said that Kerala continued to report the highest number of daily confirmed coronavirus cases at 5,051. All the people who have tested positive for the new variant of the virus were kept in single-room isolation at designated healthcare facilities by the respective state governments, the ministry had said. Speaking to reporters after visiting a private hospital in Bengaluru, where vaccination dry run is being conducted, the health minister said, the vaccination will be first administered to health care workers. Besides Covaxin, Bharat Biotech has been actively working on developing another vaccine, for which it tied up with Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis for the novel ‘chimp-adenovirus’, a single dose intranasal vaccine for COVID-19. According to the ICMR, 17,93,36,364 COVID-19 samples have been tested so far, with 9,35,369 samples being tested on Thursday alone. The US registered its highest deaths yet from the coronavirus on the very day the mob attack on the Capitol laid bare some of the same, deep political divisions that have hampered the battle against the pandemic. With 234 more patients succumbing to the novel coronavirus, the COVID-19 tally in India climbed to 1,50,570 on Friday, according to the latest data update by Union health ministry. The authorities will on Friday conduct the second dry run for the COVID-19 vaccination roll-out in Delhi that will span across several districts of the National Capital, officials said. The districts include South Delhi, South East Delhi and North West Delhi and New Delhi, they said. The first dry run for COVID-19 vaccination roll-out was held in Delhi on 2 January for which three sites were chosen across the National Capital. Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain had reviewed the exercise at a dispensary in Daryaganj, and said COVID-19 vaccine will be provided to people in the National Capital for free once it arrives, and asserted that the city government has made all preparations for the vaccination drive. The previous three sites were GTB Hospital Shahdara, Urban Primary Health Centre, Daryaganj, and Venkateshwar Hospital, Dwarka. Officials on Thursday said 10 vaccination centres have been chosen in South Delhi district for the dry run, and the sites include AIIMS, Safdarjung Hospital, Pt Madan Mohan Malaviya Hospital, Pushpwati Singhania Hospital and Research Institute. In South East district, 19 sites have been chosen across three sub-divisions. These sites include Batra Hospital, Fortis Hospital, Escorts Hospital, National Heart Institute, Holy Family Hospital, Apollo Hospital and MCW Gautampuri. In North West District, the 12 sites chosen for the exercise include Max Hospital and Fortis Hospital, both at Shalimar Bagh; Saroj Hospital, Jaipur Golden Hospital, and BSA Hospital, officials said. Four sites have chosen in the New Delhi district, including NorthernRailway central hospital and Fortishospital, Vasant Kunj. The Union health minister chaired an online meeting with health ministers of all states and union territories regarding COVID-19 vaccination dry run to be conducted on 8 January in all districts of the country, according to the bulletin issued by the Delhi health department on Thursday. India’s drugs regulator has approved Oxford COVID-19 vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute, and indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use in the country. It paves the way for the roll-out of at least two vaccines in the country in the coming days. A total of 1,000 vaccination centres will be set up in Delhi. And, about 600 centres will be set up in the first phase, for which work is underway in full swing. At every vaccination centre, there will be multiple booths, each to take a maximum of 100 people, officials said on Wednesday. There will be a nodal officer at each vaccination centre, officials said. COVID Vaccine Intelligence Network or CoWIN app and its ecosystem will be used to manage and scale up the massive vaccination drive that is expected to begin soon across the country. Everything will be fed to the database in real-time. Also, the person after being vaccinated will be kept under observation for any AEFI (adverse events following immunisation). Jain on Saturday said the city government had so far made preparations to vaccinate one lakh people in a day. The Delhi government is fully prepared to receive, store and administer COVID-19 vaccine to 51 lakh priority category persons in the city in the first phase of vaccination, the minister had said. These include healthcare workers, who will be first to receive, followed by frontline workers, people aged above 50 and those below 50 years but with co-morbidities, he added. Vaccination centres will either be hospitals or facilities linked to hospitals. As part of the first phase, about three lakh healthcare workers and nearly six lakh frontline workers, totalling about nine lakh, will be the first ones to get the vaccine.
Coronavirus News Updates: UK approves Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, pre-orders 7 mn doses
Coronavirus News LIVE Updates: In trials with more than 30,000, the Moderna vaccine offered nearly 95 percent protection from severe COVID-19
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614 new coronavirus cases in MP, nine deaths, 809 recoveries
Madhya Pradesh on Friday recorded 614 new COVID-19 cases, taking the count of infections in the state to 2,47,436, health officials said. With nine more people succumbing to the viral infection, the toll rose to 3,691.
As many as 809 patients were discharged from hospitals, taking the state’s overall recovery count to 2,35,421. Of new fatalities, two died in Indore and one each in Bhopal, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Khargone, Morena, Barwani and Damoh districts.
UK approves Moderna vaccine for rollout against COVID-19
The UK’s regulatory authority on Friday approved a third COVID-19 vaccine for use in the country, made by the company Moderna.
However, supplies of the new jab are not expected to be available until the spring in a few weeks’ time as the UK has pre-ordered 7 million doses. In trials with more than 30,000, the Moderna vaccine offered nearly 95 per cent protection from severe COVID.
The Moderna vaccine works in a similar way to the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine that is already being offered by the National Health Service (NHS). It requires temperatures of around -20C for shipping — similar to a normal freezer. In comparison, the Pfizer/BioNTech one requires temperatures closer to -75C, making transport logistics much more difficult.
The Oxford/AstraZeneca jab is easier to store and distribute, as it can be kept at normal fridge temperature. All three vaccines, now cleared for use in the UK, require a second booster shot.
EU doubles COVID-19 vaccines order with Pfizer-BioNTech
The European Commission said on Friday it has secured 300 million extra doses of the coronavirus Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, a move that could ease criticism that the EU’s executive arm has not done enough to procure coronavirus shots for the entire bloc.
Dharavi records one new COVID-19 case; tally at 3,842
With the addition of only one fresh case of coronavirus, the count of infections in Mumbai’s Dharavi area stood at 3,842 on Friday, a senior civic official said. The slum-dominated locality had recorded five new cases the day before.
A total of 3,514 patients from the locality have recovered from the infection so far, the official from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said. There are currently 16 active COVID-19 cases in Dharavi.
Passenger flights from UK to India resumed today
Passenger flights resumed from the UK to India in limited numbers from Friday onwards after remaining suspended for 16 days due to the emergence of a new coronavirus variant in that country.
The first flight to land at the Delhi airport from London on Friday was Air India’s AI112 that had 256 passengers in it, said Gauri Agarwal, founder of the Genestrings Diagnostic Center, on Thursday.
Genestrings is handling coronavirus testing of all passengers at the Delhi airport. One Vistara flight with 291 passengers will come from London to Delhi on Saturday and two flights – one of British Airways and another of Air India – with a total of 481 passengers will land at the Delhi airport on Sunday, she added.
First case of infection of UK-strain of coronavirus found in Madhya Pradesh
In the first such case in Madhya Pradesh, a 39-year-old man who returned to Indore from the UK last month has tested positive for the new coronavirus strain, PTI reported. The patient, who is asymptomatic, has been placed in home isolation, district collector Manish Singh said.
It was the first case of infection of the UK variant of the virus in the state, said Dr Veena Sinha, additional director, MP Health Department. After returning from the UK, the man had come in contact with 39 people, 34 of them from outside Indore district..
These 34 people were contacted and informed about his status. The remaining five, including two of the patient’s family members, are from Indore and have undergone COVID-19 tests and are in good health.
Maharashtra minister says Centre should provide free COVID-19 vaccines
Maharashtra minister and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde on Friday demanded that the Centre bear the cost of COVID-19 vaccination in the state. Speaking at the Thane civil hospital, he said people expect that the government should make coronavirus vaccines available free of cost.
“Therefore, the Union government should bear the expenses of the vaccination in the state. Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope has also urged the Centre to provide free vaccination,” Shinde said.
He said that all preparations for the actual vaccination were in place in Thane district, of which he is the guardian minister.
‘Karnataka to receive 13.90 lakh vaccine vials, likely to start administering it from 11 Jan’
Karnataka health minister K Sudhakar on Friday said the state is expected to receive 13,90,000 vials of vaccine against COVID-19 in a day or two, and it is likely to be administered starting from 11 January.
“The big good news for Karnataka is that I have received information from the Union Health Ministry that tomorrow or the day after probably we will be receiving 13,90,000 vials of vaccine for the state. It’s a big happy news for all of us,” he said.
Speaking to reporters after visiting a private hospital, where vaccination dry run is being conducted, Sudhakar said, the vaccination will be first administered to healthcare workers. “We have registered 6.30 lakh healthcare professionals in Karnataka till date. Those who are left out, may be in some medical or dental colleges, we have requested them to register,” he said adding that health workers will be followed by those with comorbidities, those above 60 years and those in other departments like Police and Revenue working against the pandemic.
Vaccine dry run conducted at 36 centres in Himachal Pradesh
A dry run for vaccination against COVID-19 was conducted at 36 centres in Himachal Pradesh, health officials were quoted as saying by PTI on Friday. Twenty-five people were administered the dummy vaccine at the centres during the dry run held on Wednesday, they said.
All of them were kept under observation for half an hour, they added. The dry run was done at three centre in the state capital Shimla including IGMC, Ghannahatti and Mashobra, officials said.
UK imposes mandatory COVID-19 tests for international travellers
International arrivals from anywhere in the world, including India, will now be required to prove a negative COVID-19 test taken up to 72 hours prior to departure for the UK, as part of new measures announced on Friday to contain the spread of new variants of coronavirus circulating internationally.
Passengers will be subject to an immediate fine of 500 pounds if they fail to comply with the new regulations on pre-departure testing.
Starting next week, inbound passengers arriving by boat, plane or train will have to take a test up to 72 hours before departing the country they are in and could be denied boarding without this.
Indian economy to rebound with 8.9% growth in FY22, says IHS Markit
The Indian economy is likely to rebound with an 8.9 per cent growth in the fiscal year beginning April 2021 after economic activity showed significant improvement in the last quarter, IHS Markit said on Friday.
The National Statistical Organisation (NSO) on Thursday predicted that the economy will contract 7.7 per cent in the current financial year ending in March, the worst performance in four decades.
“The Indian economy suffered a severe recession in 2020,” IHS Markit said in a note. “The worst contraction occurred during the period from March until August, with the economy having shown a strong rebound in economic activity since September.”
Seven-day institutional quarantine for passengers arriving from UK: Delhi CM
The Delhi government has ordered mandatory seven-day institutional quarantine for passengers arriving from the United Kingdom, ANI reported on Friday. This will be followed by another seven-day home quarantine.
“All those arriving from the UK, who test positive will be isolated in an isolation facility. Negative ones will be taken to a quarantine facility for seven days followed by seven days of home quarantine,” ANI quoted Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.
All those arriving from the UK, who test positive will be isolated in an isolation facility. Negative ones will be taken to a quarantine facility for 7 days followed by 7 days home quarantine: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/EyTnkNMvNA
— ANI (@ANI) January 8, 2021
Telangana to finalise vaccine distribution plan on 11 Jan
Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will hold a meeting with his ministers and administrative officials on 11 January to finalise the action plan for vaccine distribution, PTI reported on Friday.
Vaccine deliveries under COVAX likely in Jan: WHO
COVID-19 vaccine deliveries under the COVAX facility coordinated by the World Health Organization to support lower-income countries could start this month, WHO immunization director Kate O’Brien said on Thursday.
“We need about $7 billion in order to deliver enough vaccine to these countries through the end of 2021. The facility has already raised about $6 billion of the $7 billion,” she told an online social media event.
Puducherry registers 20 new COVID-19 cases
The union territory of Puducherry reported 20 new coronavirus cases during the past 24 hours taking the overall tally to 38,389, a top Health department official said on Friday.
The 20 new cases were identified after the examination of 3,411 samples, Director of Health and Family Welfare S Mohan Kumar said in a release.
No fresh fatality was reported during the span of 24 hours and the toll remained at 636, he added.
Harsh Vardhan inspects cold storage for vaccine in Chennai
Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan inspects cold storage for COVID vaccine in Chennai during his visit today #TamilNadu pic.twitter.com/26dYVvRULi
— ANI (@ANI) January 8, 2021
79.96% of new COVID-19 recoveries from 10 states, UTs: Centre
The number of daily COVID-19 recoveries is increasing exponentially and stands at 10,037,398, the Union health ministry said on Friday. It added that 79.96 percent of the new recoveries were reported from 10 states and Union territories.
Kerala has reported the maximum number of 5,639 single-day recoveries, followed by Maharashtra (3,350) and West Bengal (1,295).
10 states, UTs account for 81.22% of the new COVID-19 cases: Centre
The Union health ministry on Friday said that Kerala continued to report the highest number of daily confirmed coronavirus cases at 5,051. “It is followed by Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh with 3,729 and 1,010 new cases, respectively. 81.22% of the new cases are from 10 States and UTs,” it said.
India will be able to vaccinate entire population soon: Harsh Vardhan
Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Friday said soon it would be a reality to vaccinate the entire population in the country against COVID-19 after prioritising risk groups.
The Centre has started a new COVID platform to track particulars of potential vaccine beneficiaries and also issue electronic certificates to them, he told reporters after reviewing the dry run of administering COVID-19 vaccine at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital here as part of a state-wide programme.
“In the next few days, also in the near future, we should be able to give this vaccine to our countrymen prioritising those who are at risk in public and private sectors. The government has already made known the scheme of things,” he added.
India, he said, has done extremely well in developing vaccines in the shortest possible time, and presently two vaccines have been given emergency use authorisation.
Pfizer’s vaccine found effective against UK, SA variants of SARS-CoV-2 virus, study reports
New research suggests that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine can protect against a mutation found in two highly contagious variants of the coronavirus that erupted in Britain and South Africa. Those variants are causing global concern. They both share a common mutation called N501Y, a slight alteration on one spot of the spike protein that coats the virus. That change is believed to be the reason they can spread so easily. Most of the vaccines being rolled out around the world train the body to recognize that spike protein and fight it. Pfizer teamed with researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston for laboratory tests to see if the mutation affected its vaccine’s ability to do so.
They used blood samples from 20 people who received the vaccine, made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, during a large study of the shots. Antibodies from those vaccine recipients successfully fended off the virus in lab dishes, according to the study posted late Thursday on an online site for researchers.
_**Read more here…**_Aus PM announces new travel restrictions as Brisbane enters 3-day lockdown
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday announced new travel restrictions and described as serious the situation in Brisbane where a cleaner at a hotel was diagnosed with the highly transmissible UK variant of COVID-19, prompting the authorities to announce a three-day lockdown in the country’s third-largest city.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced the lockdown after informing on Twitter that a cleaner working at a Brisbane quarantine hotel had tested positive for the UK strain of COVID-19.
82 infected with new COVID-19 variant so far: Centre
A total of 82 people have been infected with the new mutant variant of SARS- CoV-2 virus in the nation so far, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday.
Chinese vaccine — Coronavac — shows 78% efficacy in phase 3 trials in Brazil
Chinese-developed Covid-19 vaccine CoronaVac showed at least 78 percent effectiveness in final-stage clinical trials in Brazil, officials announced Thursday, saying they would apply for emergency approval from the Brazilian regulatory agency to begin a vaccination campaign.
“This is a historic day, a day of hope,” Sao Paulo state Governor Joao Doria told a news conference announcing the results. He said his state’s vaccination campaign would begin on 25 January, though that will require approval from federal regulatory agency Anvisa. The Butantan Institute, Sao Paulo’s leading public health centre, said it would apply for emergency approval by Friday.
_**Read more here…**_Karnataka to receive 13.90 lakh vaccine vials in a couple of days: Health minister
Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar on Friday said the state is expected to receive 13,90,000 vials of vaccine against COVID-19 in a day or two.
“The big good news for Karnataka is that I have received information from the Union Health Ministry that tomorrow or the day after probably we will be receiving 13,90,000 vials of vaccine for the state. It’s a big happy news for all of us,” Sudhakar said.
Telangana adds 346 new COVID-19 cases
Telangana recorded 346 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the total positives to over 2.89 lakh while two fatalities pushed the toll to 1,561, the state government said on Friday.
Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 66, followed by Rangareddy and Medchal Malkajgiri with 41 and 34 respectively, it said in a bulletin, providing details as of 8 pm on 7 January.
WHO-GAVI-CEPI alliance to get poorest nations access to vaccines within weeks
The world’s poorest countries can expect to start receiving their first Covid-19 vaccine doses between the end of January and mid-February, the World Health Organization said Thursday.
Vaccination is already underway in some of the world’s wealthiest nations, including the United States, Britain, European Union countries and Canada. Covax, the globally-pooled vaccine procurement and distribution effort, has struck agreements to secure two billion doses — and the first of those will start rolling out within weeks, said the WHO’s head of vaccines, Kate O’Brien.
_**Read more here…**_Bharat Biotech to begin Phase-1 trials of its intranasal vaccine in Feb-March
Buoyed by the Emergency Use Authorisation approval from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI)for its COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin, Bharat Biotech has said Phase-1 clinical trials of its new intranasal antidote for the novel coronavirus will begin during February-March this year.
Besides Covaxin, Bharat Biotech has been actively working on developing another vaccine, for which it tied up with Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis for the novel “chimp-adenovirus” (Chimpanzee adenovirus), a single dose intranasal vaccine for COVID-19.
“BBV154 (intranasal COVID-19 vaccine), preclinical testing has been completed for toxicology, immunogenicity and challenge studies. These studies have been conducted in the USA and India. Phase I human clinical trials will commence during Feb-March 2021,” an email reply from the city-based vaccine maker told PTI.
Of 234 new fatalities, Maharashtra reports highest
Of the 234 new COVID-19 fatalities, 72 were reported in Maharashtra, 25 in Kerala, 19 in Delhi and 18 in West Bengal, according to the data updated by the Union health ministry.
Of the total 1,50,570 COVID-19 deaths reported in the country so far, Maharashtra accounted for 49,897, followed by Tamil Nadu (12,200), Karnataka (12,131), Delhi (10,644), West Bengal (9,881), Uttar Pradesh (8,452), Andhra Pradesh (7,126) and Punjab (5,422).
Over 17.93 cr COVID-19 samples tested till now: ICMR
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 17,93,36,364 COVID-19 samples have been tested so far, with 9,35,369 samples being tested on Thursday alone.
Second dry run for vaccine underway at AIIMS Delhi
Second dry run for administration of COVID19 vaccine underway at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi. pic.twitter.com/gV1WAbbbGY
— ANI (@ANI) January 8, 2021
Active COVID-19 cases in India account for 2.16% of total caseload
The active COVID-19 caseload remained below three lakh for the 18th consecutive day. There are 2,25,449 active coronavirus infections in the country, which account for 2.16 percent of the total caseload, said the health ministry on Friday.
India’s COVID-19 recovery rate at 96.39%
The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,00,37,398, pushing the national recovery rate to 96.39 percent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate stood at 1.45 percent.
US records highest single-day COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday
The US registered its highest deaths yet from the coronavirus on the very day the mob attack on the Capitol laid bare some of the same, deep political divisions that have hampered the battle against the pandemic.
The virus is surging in virtually every state. California is particularly hard hit, with skyrocketing deaths and infections threatening to force hospitals to ration care. The same day that supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol, the nation recorded nearly 3,900 deaths. Trump and his followers have resisted efforts to social distance or wear masks to slow the spread.
Medical professionals to receive first vaccine shot: Health minister
“In a short time, India has done well by developing vaccines. In the next few days, in the near future, we should be able to give these vaccines to our countrymen. It will be given to our healthcare professional followed by frontline workers,” said Union health minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday.
India reports 234 new COVID-19 deaths
With 234 more patients succumbing to the novel coronavirus, the COVID-19 toll in India climbed to 1,50,570 on Friday, according to the latest data update by Union health ministry.
India to hold second COVID-19 vaccination dry run today
The government is holding a dry run on Friday, to prepare health authorities ahead of the official roll-out of the Covid-19 vaccine which is expected in a few days. The second nationwide dry run will take place in 33 states and Union Territories (UTs).
India reports 18,139 new cases
India recorded 18,139 fresh infections of the coronavirus disease in the past 24 hours, said the Union health ministry on Friday. With this, the nationwide tally reached 10,413,417.

The new human organ scientists discovered in 2020 can help fight cancer of head and neck: Research
Dutch scientists discovered a new organ in the human throat, the tubarial salivary glands, during prostate cancer imaging. This finding could revolutionize head and neck cancer care by refining radiation therapy, reducing side effects, and enhancing patient quality of life.
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