Covid LIVE: Lockdown in TN extended till July 12 with further relaxations

Today's coronavirus numbers: Bengaluru (676 cases), Mumbai 661 cases), Chennai (249 cases), Kolkata (127 cases), Delhi (91 cases). Stay tuned for corona-related news

3:29 PM

Rahul Gandhi says July has come vaccines haven't, BJP cites figures to hit back

In a swipe at the government, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Friday that July has come but vaccines have not, drawing a sharp retort from the BJP which cited figures to ask if spreading "confusion" is the opposition party's undeclared policy.

 

"July has come, vaccines have not. Where are vaccines," Gandhi tweeted.

 

The BJP hit out at him and claimed that people often ask why maturity, wisdom and responsibility have not come to the Congress leader despite the passage of 51 Julys, a reference to his age. (PTI)

3:15 PM

Mumbai: BMC issues new norms for vaccination camps at offices, housing societies

In light of the recent Covid-19 vaccination scam, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has issued additional guidelines and stated that inoculation at housing societies and workplaces will only be conducted by private vaccination centres registered on CoWIN portal, an official said on Friday.

 

The civic body also released a list of around 95 private vaccination centres in the city registered on CoWIN portal of the Union government and contact details of ward-level war rooms.

 

As per the guidelines issued on Thursday, vaccination at workplaces and housing societies will be carried out by registered private Covid-19 vaccination centres only, and managements of offices and housing societies will have to ensure that these centres are registered on CoWIN by contacting the local authority. (PTI)

3:14 PM

Delta variant exposes the flaws of stop-start vaccination programmes

For many countries, vaccine programmes have been one of the great triumphs of the pandemic. But in South Africa, it's a very different story. 

 

To date, fewer than 5% of South Africans have been vaccinated, and the country is now in the grips of another Covid-19 surge as the delta variant takes hold. This puts a focus on the country's vaccination failures of which there have been many, says Shabir A Madhi, professor of vaccinology at the University of Witwatersrand. 

 

South Africa didn't start trying to buy vaccine doses until too late and has been towards the back of the vaccine queue, which has led to a shortage of supplies. 

 

It has also struggled to roll out the vaccines that it has. In mid-June, a third of its supplies still sat unused, a sign of poor logistical planning and that its electronic vaccination system had failed to reach all groups across the population. 

 

But perhaps South Africa's greatest error was with the AstraZeneca vaccine, which it stopped rolling out on the basis that it didn't protect well against mild to moderate disease caused by the beta variant previously dominant in the country.  (PTI)

3:03 PM

Laurus Labs receives licence from DRDO to manufacture Covid drug 2-DG

Drug firm Laurus Labs on Friday said it has received the licence from Defence Research and Development Organisation to manufacture and market Covid-19 treatment drug 2-Deoxy-D-Glucose (2DG).

2DG has been given emergency approval by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for use on Covid-19 patients in the country, Laurus Labs said in a regulatory filing.

 

"Laurus Labs has already applied with the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) for emergency use authorization (EUA) for 2DG," it added. Read here

2:56 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: India saw highest-ever exports in June quarter despite Covid, says Goyal

2:55 PM

Karnataka govt exempts partially vaccinated travellers from Kerala

Tweaking its earlier order, the Karnataka government has exempted those who have received "at least one dose" of Covid-19 vaccine and possess the certificate for the same from producing the negative RT-PCR certificate while entering the state from neighbouring Kerala.

 

The government on Thursday had ordered that all people entering the state from Kerala need to produce a negative RT- PCR report that is not older than 72 hours, but had exempted those who have received "both doses" of Covid vaccine and possessed certificate for the same from producing the test report. Read here

2:48 PM

Over 340 million vaccine doses administered in country so far: Govt

The cumulative Covid-19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 34 crore on Friday, the Union Health Ministry said.

 

A total of 9,41,03,985 persons in the age group of 18-44 across all states and UTs have received their first dose and 22,73,477 received the second dose, it said.

 

The ministry said 34,00,76,232 vaccine doses were administered as per the provisional report till 7 am, with over 42 lakh (42,64,123) doses being given in a span of 24 hours. (PTI)

2:30 PM

Coronavirus LIVE: Stamepede-like scenario seen at vaccination centre in MP

2:28 PM

Three weeks before Tokyo Olympics, Japan still unsure about spectators

Japan Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga was still uncertain whether fans can be allowed at the Tokyo Olympics because of growing concern about rising Covid-19 cases on Thursday only three weeks before the games.

 

Cases in Tokyo have been steadily on the rise, triggering fears the games would accelerate the spread of the coronavirus.

 

Experts warn the highly contagious delta strain could trigger rapid resurgence of the infections that may require another state of emergency even during the games starting on July 23. Read here

2:13 PM

Johnson & Johnson's one shot Covid vax effective against Delta variant

The single dose Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine has shown strong neutralising antibody activity against the Delta (B16172) variant, with immunity lasting at least eight months, according to results of phase-III trials.

 

The vaccine is 85 per cent effective against severe/critical disease and demonstrated protection against hospitalisation and death from the deadly coronavirus.

 

The phase-III trials, submitted preprint to bioRxiv, showed the vaccine was consistently effective across all regions studied globally, including in South Africa and Brazil, where there was a high prevalence of rapidly emerging Beta and Zeta (P2) variants during the study period. Read here

2:10 PM

Many members of PVTG administered Covid vaccine in Andaman & Nicobar Islands

Many members of the particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTG) in the union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands have been administered Covid-19 vaccine, a senior Health department official said.

 

Secretary Health and Civil Supplies, R N Sharma on Thursday said that the Andaman and Nicobar administration is fully committed to protecting the members of the PVTG in the archipelago and they are properly examined before they are administered the Covid-19 vaccines. (PTI)

2:05 PM

Hit by pandemic, Cafe Coffee Day withdraws a lot of vending machines from customer locations

Coffee Day Global Ltd, which operates coffee chain Cafe Coffee Day (CCD), discarded about 30,000 custom-made cabinets used for vending machines at its customers' places in the last financial year as pandemic took a toll on demand.

 

According to a regulatory filing by Coffee Day Global Ltd's (CDGL) parent firm Coffee Day Enterprises Ltd on Wednesday, a lot of vending machines installed by the company have been withdrawn from customers' locations in view of the pandemic situation.

 

Coffee Day Global Ltd (CDGL) reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 306.54 crore for the financial year ended on March 31, 2021 and its revenue from operation was down 73.4 per cent Rs 400.81 crore.

 

For the January-March quarter, the company reported widening of its net loss to Rs 94.81 crore and its revenue from operation was 61.4 per cent down to Rs 141.04 crore. (PTI)

1:58 PM

India Coronavirus Dispatch: Deaths top grim milestone of 400,000

The Northeast's cases are slowing at a slower rate than the rest of India, the opposition in Kerala seeks 'actual' Covid toll, and more-news relevant to India's fight against the pandemic. Read here

 

1:54 PM

Covid first wave led to increase in antibiotic misuse in India: Study

Antibiotic sales soared during the first Covid-19 wave in India last year, according to a study which suggests that the drugs were used to treat mild and moderate cases of the viral disease.

 

The researchers at Washington University in the US estimated that Covid-19 likely contributed to 216.4 million excess doses of antibiotics and 38 million more doses of azithromycin in adults from June 2020 through September 2020, a period of peak Covid-19 activity in India.

 

Such misuse of drugs is considered inappropriate because antibiotics are only effective against bacterial infections, not viral infections such as Covid-19, the researchers said. Read here

1:53 PM

EU Digital Covid Certificate officially comes into force

The European Union (EU) Digital Covid Certificate has officially came into force, allowing citizens and residents to have their pass issued and verified across the bloc.

 

By Wednesday evening, 21 out of the 27 EU member states, as well as Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, were connected to the system's network while the others were technically ready and joined the system on Thursday, reports Xinhua news agency.

 

Some countries already began using the new health certificate in June.

 

According to the European Commission, all member states should now be in a position to issue and accept the pass. (IANS)