Coronavirus News Live Updates: Is it right to export vaccines, put countrymen at risk, asks Rahul Gandhi

Coronavirus LIVE Updates | No possibility of imposing lockdown or night curfew in Assam, says Health Minister

Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday ruled out any possibility of imposition of lockdown or night curfew in the state in view of spiralling COVID-19 cases in other parts of the country. He said the government has planned to ramp up the number of daily sample test to 1 lakh in the next seven days.

"There is no possibility of imposing lockdown or night curfew in Assam. Our strategy is to focus on the three Ts- test, trace and track- to contain the spread of the disease. "Around 18,000 tests were conducted on Wednesday. Today 35,000 tests will be done and thereafter, the number will gradually increase to one lakh per day within a week," Sarma told reporters.

Coronavirus LIVE Updates | Johnson & Johnson set to begin India trial of its single-shot vaccine

Johnson & Johnson has told Indian regulators that it will soon begin clinical trials of its single-shot COVID-19 vaccine in the country, the Indian Express newspaper reported on Friday. The U.S. drugs and healthcare giant has sent a letter to India's Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) saying it would "very shortly apply for permission to conduct clinical bridging trials in India," according to the report.

The report comes as many vaccination centres in India grapple with a shortage of vaccine supplies as the country of 1.3 billion is battling a second wave of COVID-19 infections that has eclipsed the first. India's government, however, has repeatedly said there is no shortage of shots. Johnson & Johnson and the CDSCO did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.

Coronavirus LIVE Updates | Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan tests positive for COVID-19

The Kerala Chief Minister's Office informed on April 8 that Pinarayi Vijayan, the chief minister of the state, has tested positive for COVID-19, reported PTI quoting sources. The Kerala CM, who is currently in his native village in Kannur, is reportedly not showing any major symptoms. He will soon be shifted to the Kozhikode Medical College, the official statement from the CMO read.

Notably, Vijayan’s daughter Veena Vijayan had tested positive for COVID-19 just two days ago on April 6 – when Kerala went to polls. Kerala is among the many states that have witnessed a surge in COVID-19 cases. On April 7, the state added 3,502 new coronavirus infections, taking the tally to 11,44,594. At present, there are 31,493 people who are being treated for COVID-19 in Kerala, while another 1,52,136 are under observation, of which, 4,928 are in isolation wards.

Coronavirus LIVE Updates | Dose shortage hits vaccination drive in Mumbai

Several vaccination centres across Mumbai, including a jumbo COVID-19 facility in business district BKC, suspended inoculation on Friday morning due to a shortage of doses, BMC sources said. The remaining centres are likely to suspend the vaccination drive by afternoon or evening as the available stock is fast depleting, according to the sources.

Meanwhile, Mumbai is expected to get up to 1.80 lakh fresh doses of COVID-19 vaccines on Friday, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation''s (BMC) executive health officer Mangala Gomare told PTI. According to the sources, as many as 75 of the 120 centres, mainly at private hospitals, suspended vaccination on Friday morning due to unavailability of doses, while some other centres suspended the drive within a few hours after the stock got over.

The jumbo COVID-19 centre at BKC, where the civic body has set up a mega inoculation facility, also suspended vaccination after administering less than 200 doses available in stock, a doctor from the centre said. On Thursday, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar had told PTI that due to a shortage of doses, the vaccination drive will come to halt at all centres in Mumbai from Friday, and sought immediate supplies to replenish the existing stock. The civic body of Mumbai had claimed it had suspended vaccination at 25 centres in private hospitals on Thursday due to unavailability of doses. Asked about the situation, Gomare said the centres where vaccine doses have run out of stock have suspended the drive, but exact details were not available.

Coronavirus LIVE Updates | Is it right to export vaccines, put countrymen at risk, asks Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday questioned the export of COVID-19 vaccines, and asked if it is right to do so and put the lives of countrymen in danger. He said vaccine shortage is a very serious problem during Corona times and is not a celebration. Gandhi also called upon the central government to help states without any bias and help provide them with more vaccines.

"Shortage of vaccine in view of the rise in Corona cases is a very serious problem and not a celebration," he said in a tweet in Hindi. "Is it right to export the vaccine and put our countrymen at risk. The central government should help all states without any bias. We all have to fight this pandemic together and defeat it," he added.

Coronavirus LIVE Updates | Shortage of COVID-19 vaccine: CMs seek PM Modi's attention, ask for extension of eligibility criteria of vaccination

In an interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the COVID-19 situation and the ongoing vaccination drive, the chief ministers sought attention towards shortage of coronavirus vaccines and demanded permission to vaccinate younger people. Currently, the inoculations are limited to those aged over 45 year in the country. During the meeting, the CMs gave feedback about the COVID-19 situation in their respective states, said a statement issued by the prime minister’s office. They said that the timely initiation of vaccination drive is resulting in saving lakhs of lives. Issues of vaccine hesitancy and vaccine wastage were also discussed, said the statement.

Talking to PM Modi, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik drew his attention to the shortage of the COVID-19 vaccine in the state. Noting that half of Odisha’s vaccination centres having halted activities for want of Covishield, he requested the prime minister to ensure that the state gets to stock up doses 10 days in advance for the vaccination drive to run smoothly. Patnaik asserted that Odisha has taken measures to make sure that vaccine wastage is low, and put in place an "efficient mechanism" to administer shots to all eligible persons. The state has "reactivated" its system to tackle the rise in the COVID-19 cases, he said.

Coronavirus LIVE Updates | Maharashtra govt wasted 5 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses due to lack of planning, says Prakash Javadekar

Union minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Prakash Javadekar said on April 8 that five lakh doses of the COVID-19 vaccines were wasted in Maharashtra due to a lack of planning by the state government. Addressing a press conference at the BJP office, Javadekar, who himself hails from Maharashtra, said he has taken all the information and 23 lakh doses of the vaccines are available with the Maharashtra government.

His remarks came after Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on April 7 that many inoculation centres in Maharashtra are being shut due to a shortage of COVID-19 vaccines and that the state now has 14 lakh doses, which would only last for three days. “I want to make it clear that the Maharashtra government has 23 lakh doses of the vaccines with it...which is a stock for five to six days. Now, to distribute in villages and districts is the responsibility of the state government,” Javadekar said.

He alleged that the Maharashtra government has “wasted five lakh doses of the vaccines, and it is not a small number, due to its lack of planning. The planning for carrying out a vaccination drive is the responsibility of the state government”. The Union minister also said a higher number of vaccines was given to Maharashtra as compared to the Centre's previous allocation to the state.

Coronavirus LIVE Updates | Hotels, restaurants across Maharashtra hold silent protest on closure of operations

Hospitality associations across Maharashtra on Thursday organised statewide silent protests, under the aegis of the United Hospitality Forum of Maharashtra (UHF), against the government's recent lockdown order. Lakhs of restaurants participated in the silent protest with their employees standing outside the establishments holding placards, the Hotel and Restaurant Association of Western India (HRAWI) said in a statement.

HRAWI President Sherry Bhatia said, "The hospitality industry demands fair play and justice. We request the government to either allow us to continue regular operations with the mandated SOPs (standard operating procedures) or permanently shut us down, rather than keep us half alive and in a state of misery." He said the industry operates in the safest of environments and follow all the mandated compliances. "A majority of the establishments have mounting debts and face threats of insolvency along with millions of job losses."

Coronavirus LIVE Updates | Over 125 vaccination centres shut in Maharashtra over vaccine shortage

Maharashtra, which has been reporting the most number of coronavirus infections in the country for the last several days, has shut over 125 COVID-19 vaccination centres as it faces a shortage of vaccine doses, reports have said. At least 26 centres have been shut in the state capital Mumbai, including 23 in Navi Mumbai. Besides, 100 centres in Pune, Sangli, Satara and Panvel have also been shut, NDTV reported.

The shortage has pitted Maharashtra against the Centre, with the state accusing the Union government of discriminating against the state in vaccine allotment. The Centre, in turn, has accused the state of mismanaging the crisis. Vaccination could not take place at 25 private Mumbai hospitals due to a shortage of doses, news agency PTI reported the city civic body Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) as saying. The BMC in a release said the jabs couldn't be administered at 25 of the 71 approved vaccination centres as the doses had run out. The current stock would “last only for a day” and it was making efforts to procure more shots, BMC said.

Coronavirus LIVE Updates | PM Narendra Modi’s 5 big messages on COVID-19 fight

Keeping the economy afloat with no more lockdowns, going back to the drawing board to the test-track-treat-contain strategy that won over COVID-19 the first time, shedding ‘COVID-19 fatigue’, thinking more of testing and less of the vaccine and sticking to the world-wide experience of vaccine roll-out as nearly 90 percent of all fatalities are of those over 45 years of age – these were the five major takeaways from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with chief ministers.

The major relief for all was the PMs message that a lockdown was not the way to deal with the second wave which had already crossed the peak of the first wave. The economy nose-dived during the lockdown in 2020 as the government had no other way to go given there was no testing or quarantine infrastructure in place.

Those aware of the PM’s thinking say the Centre is no more in favour of lockdowns, as the PM himself enumerated that the government is now far more prepared through testing and medical infrastructure to fight the second wave. However, night curfews could continue as a psychological measure to keep people wary of the threat of the virus but the PM specified that it be done from 10 PM to 5 AM so that impact on the economy is minimal.

Coronavirus LIVE Updates | India logs highest daily spike of over 1.31 lakh cases

India registered a record single-day spike of 1,31,968 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, pushing its infection tally to 1,30,60,542, while the death toll increased to 1,67,642 with 780 more fatalities in a day, highest since October 18, the Union Health Ministry data showed. Registering a steady increase for the 30th day in a row, the number of active COVID-19 cases increased to 9,79,608, which is 7.5 per cent of the total infections, according to the data updated at 8 am.

The recovery rate in the country has further dropped to 91.22 per cent, it added. The active COVID-19 caseload in the country was recorded at its lowest of 1,35,926 on February 12, comprising 1.25 per cent of the total infections. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 1,19,13,292, while the case fatality rate has dropped to 1.28 per cent, the data.

Coronavirus LIVE Updates | COVAX expects to deliver doses to nations despite reduced supply availability, says WHO

The COVAX vaccine facility expects to deliver COVID-19 doses to all participating economies that have requested it in the first half of the year despite reduced supply availability as well as increased demand for the jabs in India, according to the World Health Organisation. The COVAX facility, which is a global initiative to ensure COVID-19 vaccines are available worldwide, has now delivered life-saving vaccines to over 100 economies since making its first international delivery to Ghana on February 24, 2021.

So far, more than 38 million doses across six continents, supplied by three manufacturers, AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech and the Serum Institute of India (SII) have been delivered. Of the over 100 economies reached, 61 are among the 92 lower-income economies receiving vaccines funded through the Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC).

COVAX aims to supply vaccines to all participating economies that have requested vaccines, in the first half of 2021, despite some delays in planned deliveries for March and April, a news release from the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Thursday. Despite reduced supply availability in March and April the result of vaccine manufacturers scaling and optimizing their production processes in the early phase of the rollout, as well as increased demand for COVID-19 vaccines in India COVAX expects to deliver doses to all participating economies that have requested vaccines in the first half of the year, the release said.