New Delhi, February 25 (IANS): India is fighting one of the toughest battles against the Covid-19 outbreaks. The battle turned intense after daily cases resurged following a few weeks drop from a peak of over 90,000 infections in mid-September to a little over 10,000 in early February. It has begun to rise again in many states along with thousands SARS-CoV-2 mutations. The genetic diagnostic laboratories in India have detected over 24,000 mutations in the strains of SARS-CoV-2 in th

London, December 2 (AP): British regulators have become the first to approve the COVID-19 vaccine developed by American drugmaker Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech for experimental use. Because trials of the vaccine have shown that it has 95 per cent efficacy, there is acute interest in how the U.K. plans to implement its biggest immunisation programme in decades. Here's a look at what is known about Britain's vaccination plan: HOW MUCH OF THE VACCINE DOES THE U.K. HAVE?

Reuters Drugmakers and research centres around the world are working on COVID-19 vaccines, with large global trials of several of the candidates involving tens of thousands of participants well underway. The following is what we know about the race to deliver vaccines to help end the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed more than 1.34 million lives worldwide: Who is furthest along? U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech SE released final late-stage trial da

LONDON, November 23 (Reuters): AstraZeneca said on Monday its vaccine for the novel coronavirus, developed along with the University of Oxford, could be around 90% effective under one dosing regimen. "This vaccine's efficacy and safety confirm that it will be highly effective against COVID-19 and will have an immediate impact on this public health emergency," Pascal Soriot, Astra's chief executive, said in a statement. The British drugmaker's preliminar

NEW DELHI, November 23 (Reuters): India's health minister said on Sunday a locally-developed COVID-19 vaccine candidate could complete its final trials in a month or two, raising hopes for a rapid roll-out in a country with the world's second highest number of infections. The state-run Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and privately-held Bharat Biotech this month started third-stage trials of COVAXIN, in a process that would involve 26,000 volunteers. It is

Berlin, November 23 (IANS): Governments seeking to purchase Moderna's potential Covid-19 vaccine may have to shell out $25 and $37 per dose, depending on the size of the order, the company's CEO Stephane Bancel told German weekly 'Welt am Sonntag' (WamS). Bancel said that the price he quoted was a "fair price" and that the company was not interested in "maximum profit," according to the report on Sunday. The US pharma giant last week said that

Moscow, November 22 (IANS): Russia's Sputnik V vaccine against Covid-19 will cost governments much lower than that of Pfizer's and Moderna's, the official Twitter handle of the world's first registered vaccine against the pandemic said on Sunday. "Translating pharma lingo: the announced price of Pfizer of $19.50 and Moderna of $25-$37 per dose actually means their price of $39 and $50-$74 per person. Two doses are required per person for the Pfizer, Sputnik

Reuters US healthcare workers and others recommended for the nation's first COVID-19 inoculations could start getting shots within a day or two of regulatory consent next month, a top official of the government's vaccine development effort said on Sunday. Some 70% of the U.S. population of 330 million would need to be inoculated to achieve "herd" immunity from the virus, a goal the country could achieve by May, according to Dr. Moncef Slaoui, chief scientif

New Delhi, November 1 (IANS): The government has planned to start the distribution of Covid-19 vaccine first to the healthcare workers followed by other groups to be added "sequentially". The distribution drive would take place over a year. For this, the states and union territories would form a three-tier system as per the Centre's directions. "In all likelihood, the Covid-19 vaccine introduction will span over a year with multiple groups being included sequen

LONDON, October 26 (Reuters): One of the world's leading COVID-19 experimental vaccines produces an immune response in both young and old adults, raising hopes of a path out of the gloom and economic destruction wrought by the novel coronavirus. The vaccine, developed by the University of Oxford, also triggers lower adverse responses among the elderly, British drug maker AstraZeneca Plc, which is helping manufacture the vaccine, said on Monday. A vaccine that works is se

MUMBAI, October 20 (Reuters): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the government was working rapidly to ensure the supply of COVID-19 vaccines to all citizens once they are available. In his address to the nation, Modi urged Indians to continue wearing masks and uphold social distancing rules to prevent further spread of the pandemic ahead of India's festive season. "Whenever the corona vaccine comes, how it reaches to every Indian as soon as possible, the