India Coronavirus Dispatch: Can you consume alcohol after a Covid shot?

Study finds T-cells of earlier Covid patients recognise new variants, fewer family-run businesses laid off staff, pay Rs 5 to spend an hour in Nashik market-news on India's fight against Covid-19

Highest national one-day jump in daily infections since October 11

India reported 72,330 fresh coronavirus infections on Thursday, taking the cumulative caseload to 1,22,21,665, according to a report in the Scroll. The daily rise is the highest since October 11. The country saw 459 deaths due to the pandemic, taking the death toll to 1,62,927, according to central health ministry data. The active caseload is at 5,84,055, while the total recoveries have surged to 1,14,74,683. As many as 6,51,17,896 vaccines have been given since the nationwide inoculation programme kicked off on January 16. Read more here

Can you consume alcohol after getting a Covid shot?

Consuming alcohol will not render the Covid-19 vaccine ineffective and there is no need to abstain, an explainer in The Indian Express said. The central health ministry has clarified this and the official advisory can be found here. On the question of alcohol and the vaccine, the ministry says: “As per experts, there is no evidence of alcohol impairing the effectiveness of the vaccine.” UK health regulator The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has said: “There is currently no evidence that drinking alcohol interferes with the efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccines. We would advise anyone concerned about this to talk to their healthcare professional.” Read more here

T-cells of earlier Covid patients recognise all major new variants: Study

Since new variants of the novel coronavirus have emerged, there have been worries about whether these might escape immune responses generated by prior infection or vaccination, which could make reinfection more likely or inoculation less effective, a report in The Indian Express said. To probe this, researchers have analysed blood cell samples from 30 people who had contracted and recovered from Covid before the emergence of virus variants. They found that one key player in the immune response to Coviid-19—the CD8+ T cell—remained active against the virus, the report said. Read more here 

Rs 5 to enter market for an hour in Maharashtra's Nashik

In an effort to curb rising Covid cases Maharashtra's Nashik is levying a small fee to discourage people from crowding the city's market, a report in Hindustan Times said. A fee of Rs 5 will be charged for those who wish to enter the market for an hour. "We are using a different approach to contain the Covid-19 spread in Nashik," said Deepak Pandey, Commissioner of Police, Nashik City. "It's an attempt to save the city from entering lockdown." Read more here

Fewer Indian family-run businesses laid off staff amid Covid disruption

Family-run businesses were more reluctant to resort to layoffs to cope with the economic disruption caused by the pandemic compared to their global peers, a report in The Times of India said. According to the report—by STEP Project Global Consortium and KPMG Private Enterprise—about 29% of family-run companies in India took action to reduce labour costs as compared to the global average of 36%. Read more here