Coronavirus (Covid-19) India Highlights: Covaxin’s Emergency Use Listing gets delayed, WHO says final decision next week

Gujarat reported 23 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, raising the infection tally to 8,26,039, and registered the first COVID-19-related death in more than a month, said the state health department. The state reported one COVID-19 fatality in the last 24 hours - the first death in over a month - taking the toll to 10,083, said the department in a release. The death was reported from Junagadh. The state last reported a COVID-19 fatality on September 3. A total 14 patients were discharged in the last 24 hours, which pushed the number of recovered cases to 8,15,776, the department said. - PTI

• WHO & an independent group of experts are scheduled to meet next week to carry out the risk/benefit assessment and come to a final decision whether to grant Emergency Use Listing to Covaxin: World Health Organization
• Covaxin manufacturer, Bharat Biotech, has been submitting data to WHO on a rolling basis & submitted additional info at WHO’s request on Sept 27. WHO experts are currently reviewing this info & if it addresses all questions raised, WHO assessment will be finalized next week: WHO
• The Emergency Use Listing process - done by WHO and the Technical Advisory Group of independent experts - is centred on determining if a manufactured product (eg a vaccine) is quality-assured, safe and effective: World Health Organization - ANI

Jammu and Kashmir Tuesday recorded 102 fresh coronavirus cases, taking the total number of infected people to 3,29,991, while no fresh death was reported, officials said. Out of the 102 fresh cases, 23 were from the Jammu division and 79 from the Kashmir division, the officials said. They said Srinagar district recorded the highest number of 41 cases, followed by nine in Baramulla district. There are 1,074 active cases in the union territory, while the number of recovered patients was 3,24,493, the officials said. The death toll in the union territory remained at 4,424 as no fresh death was reported in a 24-hour span. Meanwhile, the officials said, there were 46 confirmed cases of Mucormycosis (black fungus) in the union territory as no fresh case was reported since last evening. PTI

With the addition of 63 fresh cases of COVID-19, the tally of infections in Maharashtra's Nashik district rose to 4,08,856 on Tuesday, an official said. Apart from this, 71 patients were discharged from hospitals, while two died of the infection during the day, taking the toll to 8,641 and the count of recoveries to 3,99,314, the official said. According to the district authorities, 357 casualties have been reported from Malegaon, 3,986 from Nashik city and 4,172 in other parts of the district so far. A total of 26,07,149 swab samples have been tested in the district till date, of which 5,372 were examined on Tuesday. PTI

The World Health Organisation is still reviewing data about Russia's Sputnik V vaccine as part of hopes that it can be approved by the UN health agency for emergency use against coronavirus, but said Tuesday that no decision is imminent. The clarification comes after Russia's Health Minister Mikhail Murashko in recent days reportedly said that administrative issues were among the main holdups in WHO's decision-making process about whether to grant an emergency use listing to Sputnik V as it has for a half-dozen other vaccines. Such approval would be a show of international confidence in the vaccine after a rigorous review process, and could pave the way for its inclusion into the COVAX program organised by WHO and key partners that is shipping COVID-19 vaccines to scores of countries around the world based on need. AP

Johnson & Johnson said on Tuesday it had submitted data to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization of a booster shot of its COVID-19 vaccine in people aged 18 and older.J&J said its submission includes data from a late-stage study that found a booster given 56 days after the primary dose provided 94% protection against symptomatic COVID-19 in the United States and 100% protection against severe disease, at least 14 days after the booster shot.While scientists are divided over the need for booster shots when so many people in the United States and other countries remain unvaccinated, the Biden administration announced the push for an extra dose in August to shore up protection against the highly transmissible Delta variant.J&J's filing comes after the FDA last week scheduled an Oct. 15 meeting of its expert advisory committee to discuss whether to authorize a second shot of the company's single-dose vaccine.Shares of the healthcare conglomerate rose nearly 1% in trading before the opening bell. – Reuters

Kerala on Tuesday for the second day running reported less than 10,000 fresh COVID-19 cases -- 9,735 to be exact -- and 151 deaths, taking the infection caseload to 47,38,818 and the toll to 25,677. The number of people who recovered from the infection since Monday was 13,878, which brought the total recoveries to 45,88,084 and the active cases to 1,24,441, an official press release said. As many as 93,202 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, it said. Among the 14 districts, Thrissur recorded the highest number of cases with 1,367, followed by Thiruvananthapuram (1,156) and Ernakulam (1,099). Kerala has been showing a decline in daily fresh cases after crossing the 30,000 mark post the Onam festival in August. Of the new cases, 69 were health workers, 36 from outside the state and 9,101 infected through contact, with the source of it not clear in 529. There are currently 4,03,141 people under surveillance in various districts, of whom 3,87,353 are in home or institutional quarantine and 15,788 in hospitals. PTI

Anganwadi workers and helpers involved in COVID-19-related duties will now be given an insurance cover of Rs 50 lakh under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package, a senior official said on Tuesday. The Women and Child Development Ministry official said the anganwadi workers and helpers who are engaged in activities such as COVID-19 awareness and surveillance drives and door-to-door distribution of ration will be covered under the scheme. (PTI)

Twenty-nine of Odisha's 30 districts have been declared 'Green Zones', as active COVID-19 cases came down across the state, a health department official said. Khurda was the only district identified as 'Yellow Zone' for reporting over 2,000 active cases, while the figure in all other districts stands at below 1,000, he said. Meanwhile, the state registered 453 fresh COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, including 53 children under 18 years of age, raising the tally to 10,28,819. (PTI)

Drug firm Cadila Healthcare on Tuesday said it has received permission from the Indian drug regulator for conducting phase III trials for its two-dose COVID-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D. The company has already received the emergency use authorization (EUA) from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for ZyCoV-D to be administered in three doses on August 20. (PTI)

Andhra Pradesh logged 671 new COVID-19 infections, taking the tally to over 20.53 lakh, while the toll went up to 14,219 with 11 casualties. West Godavari district accounted for the highest number of cases with 109 followed by Chittoor (102), a state government bulletin said on Tuesday, giving figures of the last 24 hours ending at 9 AM. The active cases stood at 9,141. The total number of cases in the state stood at 20,53,863, while with 1,272 people being cured, the total recoveries are at 20,30,503. Over 41 thousand samples were tested today, taking the total number of specimens examined so far to over 2.85 crore. (PTI)

Convalescent plasma therapy is "futile" as a treatment for most critically ill COVID-19 patients, according to a study published on Tuesday. The findings, published in the journal JAMA, are the latest from REMAP-CAP trial, which has enrolled thousands of patients in hundreds of hospitals globally to quickly determine what COVID-19 treatments work best in which patients. (PTI)

Jammu and Kashmir's Ramban district has vaccinated all eligible beneficiaries with at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and nearly 45 per cent of them have taken their second dose, officials said on Tuesday. On September 15, Samba had become the first district in the union territory to vaccinate all people in the 18-44 age group with at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Amid apprehensions of a third wave of the pandemic, good news is coming from Ramban, where 100 per cent coverage of first Covid vaccine dose has been achieved, even as 45 per cent of beneficiaries have taken both doses, Chief Medical Officer, Ramban, Dr Mohammad Freed Bhat said. (PTI)

The Karnataka government has made a negative RT-PCR test report and at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine mandatory for officers and staff on duty and artists, who will perform during the world renowned Mysuru Dasara festival, commencing on Thursday. "It has been made mandatory for all those who are participating in the festival including government officers and the staff on the duty, artists, security and media personnel to have a negative RT-PCR test report which will be done after October 4 and have at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine," Karnataka Chief Secretary P Ravi Kumar said in his order. (PTI)

Russia on Tuesday reported 895 new COVID-19 deaths, the most recorded in a single day since the pandemic began, as well as 25,110 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours. The Kremlin on Monday implored people to get vaccinated against COVID-19, calling it the only way to stop the virus' spread. Authorities are considering reintroducing health restrictions. (Reuters)

A COVID-19 vaccine requirement for teachers and other staff members took effect Monday in New York City's million-plus-student public school system, in a key test of the employee vaccination mandates being rolled out across the country. The city had planned to bring in substitutes where needed, with Mayor Bill de Blasio warning that unvaccinated school employees would be placed on unpaid leave. But 95% of the city's roughly 148,000 public school staffers had received at least one vaccine dose as of Monday morning, including 96% of teachers and 99% of principals, de Blasio said. "Our parents need to know their kids will be safe," the mayor said. "They entrust us with their children. That's what this mandate is all about. Every adult in our schools is now vaccinated, and that's going to be the rule going forward." Schools Chancellor Meisha Ross Porter said she did not know exactly how many employees had declined the shots and been put on leave. Implementing the mandate smoothly could be a test for de Blasio, a Democrat who boasted of the city's record of keeping school buildings open during most of the last school year when other districts went to all-remote instruction. New York City is not offering a remote option this year. (AP)

Ramlila celebrations in Delhi will be low key this year in the wake of the pandemic, adopting SOPs for Covid-appropriate behaviour. Nevertheless, many organisers seemed overjoyed at the DDMA permit, allowing to have physical celebrations after the festivities were organised virtually last year. The Lav Kush Ramlila Committee that organises Ramlila at Red Fort every year, will have the COVID-19 protocols in place for the next 10 days, from October 6 to 16. "We will follow all the DDMA guidelines during the celebrations. Social distancing will be maintained with chairs placed five feet away from each other. Banners of "no mask, no entry' will be put up at the venue, and sanitisation will be mandatory," said Arjun Kumar, Secretary of the committee that organised the Ram Lila virtually last year. He added that the "maidan" will be cleaned every day with help from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to ensure cleanliness and hygiene. (PTI)

Tuesday for migrant workers, one of the country's most vulnerable groups that has been largely left behind in the broader COVID-19 inoculation rollout. About 300 workers received their first doses along with a small number of undocumented refugees as part of a campaign due to run until the end of the month that is initially targeting 5,000 workers. "The more migrant workers we're able to vaccinate, the better for the Thai people, too," said Tej Bunnag, secretary-general of the Thai Red Cross Society. Official government data shows about 2.35 million migrants have permits to work in Thailand, but the International Organization for Migration estimates there are closer to 4 million to 5 million migrant workers. Many live in cramped quarters in industries including construction, manufacturing and seafood industries. Their lack of access to health care has made getting vaccinations a challenge. "We're so happy that we will be safe now... We all came in a big group because we're afraid to die," said Pesan, 35, who has lived in Thailand for more than 20 years. (Reuters)

Portugal will give a third dose of the coronavirus vaccine to people aged 65 and older from next week, starting with the most vulnerable groups, such as care home residents and those over 80 years old. The southern European nation, which has the world's highest vaccination rate with 85% of its total population fully jabbed, started last month to give an extra COVID-19 shot to those aged over 16 with weakened immune systems. It is now extending it to everyone aged 65 and older starting Oct. 11, the health secretary of state, Antonio Sales, said late on Monday. (Reuters)

• A mega vaccination camp will be organised by Health Department on Oct 10 in which 30,000 camps will be made. We've targeted to vaccinate 33 lack people: Ma. Subramanian, Health Minister, Tamil Nadu
• 64% of people have been vaccinated with 1st dose & 22% have been vaccinated with 2nd dose in the state. We've targeted to achieve 70-75% vaccination within this month: Ma. Subramanian, Health Minister, Tamil Nadu in Chennai (ANI)

The Karnataka state government has issued guidelines for Dussehra and Durga puja celebrations. Exempting Mysuru, the other districts have been asked to ensure that not more than 400 people gather to celebrate Dussehra, DurgaPuja. (AIR News)

#Karnataka state Government has issues guidelines for #Dussehra and Durga puja celebrations. Exempting #Mysuru, the other districts have been asked to ensure that not more than 400 people gather to celebrate Dussehra, #DurgaPuja. (AIR News)

The number of daily coronavirus-related deaths in Ukraine topped 300 for the first time since mid-May, health ministry data showed on Tuesday. The ministry reported 317 deaths over the past 24 hours and 9,846 new infections. The number of new COVID-19 cases has been growing for several weeks and the government has tightened lockdown restrictions. Last week, the daily tally of infections jumped to almost 12,000, the highest number since April.Ukraine, with a population of 41 million, has recorded around 2.47 million COVID-19 cases and 57,205 deaths. Only 5.82 million people have been fully vaccinated, according to health ministry figures. (Reuters)

Two doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine are 90 per cent effective against hospitalisation from the disease for all variants, including Delta, for at least six months, according to a study published in The Lancet journal on Tuesday. The researchers found that over the study period, effectiveness of the vaccine against all SARS-COV-2 infections declined, falling from 88 per cent within one month after receiving two vaccine doses to 47 per cent after six months. However, the effectiveness of Pfizer (BNT162b2) vaccine against hospitalisations remained at 90 per cent overall for all variants, they said. The study underscores the importance of improving COVID-19 vaccination rates worldwide and monitoring vaccine effectiveness to determine which populations should be prioritised to receive booster shots, the researchers said. "Our study confirms that vaccines are a critical tool for controlling the pandemic and remain highly effective in preventing severe disease and hospitalisation, including from the Delta and other variants of concern," said the study's lead author, Sara Tartof from Kaiser Permanente in the US. (PTI)

AstraZeneca has requested the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to grant emergency use authorisation for its new treatment to prevent COVID-19, the British drugmaker said on Tuesday. The company has included data from a late-stage trial of over 5,000 participants that showed the drug reduced the risk of people developing any COVID-19 symptoms by 77%. The treatment, an antibody therapy called AZD7442, could help protect people who may not have a strong enough immune response to COVID-19 vaccines, AstraZeneca said. While vaccines rely on an active immune system to develop an arsenal of targeted antibodies and infection-fighting cells, AZD7442 contains lab-made antibodies designed to linger in the body for months to contain the virus in case of an infection. A U.S. authorisation for AZD7442 could be a major win for AstraZeneca, whose widely used COVID-19 vaccine is yet to be approved in the United States. Talks regarding supply agreements for AZD7442 are ongoing with the United States and other governments, AstraZeneca said. (Reuters)

China administered about 873,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines on Monday, bringing the total number of doses administered so far up to around 2.215 billion, data from the National Health Commission showed on Tuesday. (Reuters)

Three members of the Vatican Swiss Guards, the elite colourfully dressed corps that protects the pope, have decided to resign rather than be vaccinated against COVID-19, Swiss newspaper Tribune de Geneva reported. Following the Holy See's implementation of new COVID-19 measures, three Swiss guards have departed on a "voluntary" basis, a spokesperson for the corps said, according to the paper. Three other recruits, hitherto unvaccinated, had decided to get a shot but were temporarily suspended until they were fully inoculated, the spokesperson said. A spokesperson for the Swiss Guards did not immediatelyrespond to Reuters' request for comment. (Reuters)

Twenty seven people tested positive for Covid-19 in Arunachal Pradesh on Tuesday pushing the virus caseload to 54,752 in the state but there was no casualty due to the killer disease in the past 24 hours, a senior health official said here on Tuesday. As many as 54,061 people have recuperated from the disease so far in the state including the 21 on Monday, the official said. State Surveillance Officer (SSO) Lobsang Jampa said the recovery rate among Covid-19 patients remained at 98.74 per cent, while the percentage of active cases stood at 0.76. Arunachal Pradesh currently has 414 active cases, he said. Lower Dibang Valley district has the highest number of active cases at 73, followed by Lohit (69), West Kameng (65) Tawang (49) and East Siang at 38 cases. (PTI)

Puducherry registered 82 fresh cases of COVID-19 during the last twenty-four hours ending 10 a.m. on Tuesday, raising the overall tally to 1.26 lakh. The new cases identified at the end of examination of 5,368 samples were spread over Puducherry 46, Karaikal 22, Yanam four and Mahe 10. One more person from Mahe succumbed to the viral infection taking the toll to 1,843. Director of Health Department G Sriramulu said so far 18.15 lakh samples have been tested and 15.40 lakh out of them were found to be negative. The active cases were 643 of whom 106 were in hospitals under treatment and the remaining 537 were in home isolation. While 92 patients recovered and were discharged during last twenty- four hours the overall recoveries stood at 1,24,183. (PTI)

Covid-19 vaccination for children will start soon. The government is preparing guidelines for vaccination below the age of 18 years against coronavirus and the announcement is expected to come by the end of next week, a government source said. Moreover, 70 per cent of the population has already received atleast one jab of Covid-19 vaccination. Talking to Indian Express, the source who is a part of scientific deliberations informed that the decision of how vaccination to children will be phased or categories of children will be prioritized will be taken in the first half of the month. The results for Bharat Biotech’ clinical trial of Covaxin on children is also expected to be submitted to the Drug Controller General of India for emergency use approval “around October 20-21.” READ FULL STORY

Victoria and New South Wales (NSW) have given up on playing other state rivals in Australia's Sheffield Shield before Christmas after being barred from travelling due to COVID-19 restrictions. Victoria and NSW will instead try to schedule three matches between each other in the country's first class competition, while rivals Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania play off elsewhere, a Cricket Australia website said on Tuesday. COVID-19 outbreaks in Victoria and NSW have cut off the southwestern states from other parts of Australia, where authorities have shut borders and installed travel curbs to reduce the risk of transmission.Cricket NSW official Michael Klinger said NSW and Victoria had asked other states to let them travel for Shield matches and games in the domestic one-day competition but those applications had "fallen through". Authorities in NSW and Victoria will start to loosen COVID-19 restrictions in coming weeks as vaccination targets are reached, which may open the border between the two states. Test players from those two states who are not going to the T20 World Cup include spin bowler Nathan Lyon, batsman Will Pucovski and paceman James Pattinson. Playing Shield cricket may be their only chance to impress selectors ahead of the Ashes in the home summer. (Reuters)

Puducherry reports 82 new cases and one death; active cases 643. Recovery rate 98.04% pic.twitter.com/HzwRJZFMeH

— ANI (@ANI) October 5, 2021

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Golden State Warriors' Steph Curry said he is pleased Andrew Wiggins handled his "responsibilities" as a team member by receiving a COVID-19 vaccination head of the NBA season. Unvaccinated players will have to comply with a long list of restrictions to play this season and the NBA previously denied Wiggins' request for a religious exemption. Warriors coach Steve Kerr said at the weekend that Wiggins had been vaccinated and would be ready to play, and Curry was happy to have him available. "Whatever process he went through to get to that decision, he'll be able to speak on that. We're excited to have him," Curry told reporters on Monday. (Reuters)

#𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐃𝟏𝟗 𝐕𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐔𝐏𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄➡️ More than 91.77 Cr vaccine doses provided to States/UTs.➡️ More than 6.73 Cr doses still available with States/UTs to be administered.https://t.co/phqejJlzfe pic.twitter.com/ZAumqz1yzr

— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) October 5, 2021

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The summer spike in cases fueled by the Delta variant of the coronavirus is likely the last big COVID-19 wave in the United States, but the pandemic is far from over globally, former U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said on Monday. "I think this Delta wave is probably the last major surge of SARS-CoV-2 infection that we have in the U.S., barring something unexpected happening," Gottlieb, author of "Uncontrolled Spread," a new book on the U.S. response to the pandemic, said in an interview. (Reuters)

Brazil registered 10,425 new cases of the coronavirus and 204 COVID-19 deaths on Monday, according to data released by the Health Ministry. In total, Brazil has suffered 598,152 deaths due to COVID-19 - the world's second highest toll after the United States. (Reuters)

China reported on Tuesday no new local cases of COVID-19 for the first time in more than three weeks after outbreaks in the provinces of Fujian and Heilongjiang were brought under control.The first case in Fujian in its recent outbreak was reported on Sept. 10 in the city of Putian. Infections later spread to nearby Xiamen, but were contained within the southeastern province. Heilongjiang reported its first case in its outbreak on Sept. 21. Infections were also contained within the northeastern province. All of the new infections reported in mainland China for Oct. 4 were imported, the National Health Commission said. That compares with one local case a day earlier in Heilongjiang. Overall, China reported 26 new confirmed coronavirus cases for Oct. 4, compared with 27 a day earlier, according to the health authority. China reported 15 new asymptomatic coronavirus cases, which it does not classify as confirmed infections, unchanged from 15 a day earlier. No new deaths were reported. (Reuters)

New Zealand said on Tuesday that it will start using COVID-19 vaccine certificates as proof of inoculation at large events and other high-risk settings from next month, as the country battles the spread of the Delta variant. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who on Monday abandoned a long-standing strategy of eliminating coronavirus in the face of a persistent Delta outbreak, said the certificates would help ensure large gatherings such as music festivals did not become superspreader events. "We will use them (vaccine certificates) as a tool to lessen risks at what are currently considered as high risk settings, including large scale events," Ardern said at a news conference, urging people to bring forward their vaccination plans. "These are now common overseas and they make good sense," she said, adding that they were unlikely to be needed in places like health services and supermarkets. (Reuters)

With the addition of 192 new cases of coronavirus, the infection count in Maharashtra's Thane district has gone up to 5,60,367, an official said on Tuesday. These new cases were reported on Monday, he said. The virus also claimed the life of one person, which raised the death toll in the district to 11,421, he said, adding that the COVID-19 mortality rate in Thane stood at 2.03 per cent. In neighbouring Palghar district, the COVID-19 case count has gone up to 1,36,859, while the death toll stands at 3,277, another official said. (PTI)