Stating that some of the COVID-19 vaccine candidates may get a license in the next few weeks, with preparatory activities for the roll-out of the vaccine being carried out simultaneously by the Central government in collaboration with States and UTs, the Union Health Ministry on Tuesday cautioned that COVID-19 appropriate behaviour should not see any relaxation with several countries across the world now witnessing another surge of the virus.
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Here are the latest updates:
Heads of Missions to visit biotech firms in Hyderabad
More than 60 Heads of Missions based in India will be travelling to Hyderabad to visit leading biotech companies on Wednesday. This round of visit comes a month after the Ministry of External Affairs briefed a large number of heads of diplomatic missions about India’s preparedness to beat the COVID-19 pandemic.
CFTRI to sequence SARS-CoV-2 genome
As part of various initiatives towards mitigating COVID-19, CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) signed an MoU with Clevergene, a Bengaluru-based company, for sequencing the SARS-CoV-2 genome.
Tourism dept. finds it tough to implement COVID-19 protocol
With most tourist centres in the district thrown open to public post the lockdown, the Tourism Department is having a hard time ensuring that the COVID-19 protocol is being adhered to. Despite several warnings from the Health Department and the District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC), visitors tend to neglect some of the restrictions.
Biological E. in pact for COVID-19 vaccine tech
Hyderabad-based vaccine and pharmaceutical firm Biological E. (BE) and the Ohio State Innovation Foundation (OSIF), USA, have announced an exclusive COVID-19 vaccine technology license pact. Under this, OSIF is licensing novel live attenuated measles virus vectored vaccine candidates against SARS-CoV-2 developed by the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine, exclusively to the company.
BE will be responsible for the evaluation and further development, including commercialisation of the vaccine candidate(s), a release from the company said.
Karnataka’s MR experience handy for COVID-19 vaccination
Based on its experience during the combined Measles-Rubella (MR) immunisation campaign in 2017 wherein 1.58 crore children were covered in two months, Karnataka is well-placed to implement the COVID-19 vaccination programme, said experts on Tuesday.
Participating in a webinar on ‘COVID-19 and Vaccine’ organised by the Press Information Bureau, Lokesh Alahari, Sub Regional Team Leader - Karnataka, WHO India (National Polio Surveillance Project), said Karnataka has good vaccine storage and cold chain facilities with 2,855 cold chain points and 10 walk-in-coolers and four walk-in-freezers.