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With this data, the idea of spacing out the Covishield doses should be adopted. Would allow a lot more people to get vaccinated quick, since despite the claim of a large manufacturing capability, actual supply appears severely constrained.
The Chinese Communist Party is obsessed with viruses. Its army of scientists claim to have discovered almost 2,000 new viruses in a little over a decade. It took the past 200 years for the rest of the world to discover that many.
The second phase of Covid vaccination in the country will begin on March 1, the government announced today.
Everyone over 60 and people aged above 45 years with other diseases (comorbidities) will be given free vaccination at government facilities, while those opting for private hospitals will be charged a fee, the notification stated.
The amount to be paid by people opting to be vaccinated at private hospitals is under discussion, and will be decided by the health ministry within 3-4 days, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said.
Many private hospitals will take part in the vaccination drive, Javadekar announced following a Cabinet briefing.
SII has a production capacity of 50M per month by Dec end. They would have increased it to 60M by now. We have probably exported 25-30M.
So overall there must be close to 140M available to India. BB has around 20M per month production.
If we are doing 3M per day average for 20 days per month, we need 60M per month. Dr Reddy is probably getting ready with Sputnik. Novavax will start coming in as well.
I don't see any shortage unless we are doing like 5M vaccination per day. I am fairly certain, manufacturers will go all out, if GoI decides to do that.
Was watching the 3rd test online here, can't believe the huge crowds without any distancing or masking. Shudder to think of the cases that are bound to go up in a couple of weeks or less.
770K vaccinations on 26th. Another strong day, with a total now of 14.3 million . Weekend should be lighter in vaccine rate but next week should be interesting since the phase 2 begins Monday.
Apparently, from today (27th) to tomorrow (28th or March 1st), there will be vaccinations due to Co-Win website upgrade to enable public access. Apparently, initially users will not be given a choice between Covishield and Covaxin vaccines. Not sure if it applies for free vaccines or for folks who are paying for vaccination at private centers.
Didn't BB said that some prelim data from Ph-3 trails, at least on efficacy of the vaccine will be released by end of Feb?
Covaxin Ph3 data is expected to be out in 2 weeks or less. It was conducted on 25800 volunteers, all over 18. They have submitted a request to extend trials to 5-18 age group but were asked to submit their current adult population trial before clearance for trials on children.
Brazil just purchased 20 million doses of Covaxin.
Only 58K vaccinations reported for Saturday. I hope opening up phase 2 and allowing private players results in numbers staying high even during weekends.
I don't understand this age criteria for those with co-morbidities? Do those with co-morbidities and aged less than 45 have a better rate of resilience? Is there any study backing this age cut-off?
On the other hand, has anyone from GoI informed Messrs. Covid-19 & Co, Wuhan, China to not target those less than 45 years of age? Talk about bureaucratic nonsense.
Is mortality rate in India still hanging around 1.5% or has it moved down? IIRC, it was months ago when it was around 1.5%. On the ground, it feels like that people have really moved on from the virus or are extremely fatigued of it. Many are carrying on with masks just due to pollution and dust rather than for virus. I'm not sensing vaccine polarization. Especially in the crowd that's not office goer. Is vaccine polarization crowd overlapping with political polarization crowd within WhatsApp groups?
darshan wrote:Is mortality rate in India still hanging around 1.5% or has it moved down? IIRC, it was months ago when it was around 1.5%. On the ground, it feels like that people have really moved on from the virus or are extremely fatigued of it. Many are carrying on with masks just due to pollution and dust rather than for virus. I'm not sensing vaccine polarization. Especially in the crowd that's not office goer. Is vaccine polarization crowd overlapping with political polarization crowd within WhatsApp groups?
With Pvt hospitals now given the go ahead for the vaccine, you will see a uptick in the coverage. I am slowly seeing a drop in the mask wearing janta on the road. BAU and dont give a damn on social distancing or personal hygiene.
Here in the Bengaluru, IT coolies will run to columbia asia/fortis etc to get the vaccine. Cant trust the government/PHC as the risk of getting tap water in the shot is quite high
I am looking for announcement in the RWA whatsapp group on hospital list being published with vaccine availability.
Since WFH has been announced with no end date, no hurry in running behind the vaccine.
Actually its opposite in Mumbai. Police are finding people without masks and even those in taxis. Roughly speaking there would be 8-9/10 people wearing masks. Out of these 2-3 will be wearing it below the nose. Proportion of non mask wearers is higher in peaceful areas.
7-day average confirmed cases in Maharashtra have gone up from about 2500 at the end of Jan. to 7500 at the end of Feb. The increase seems to have happened across the state and not isolated to any district. Very disturbing.
arshyam wrote:I don't understand this age criteria for those with co-morbidities? Do those with co-morbidities and aged less than 45 have a better rate of resilience? Is there any study backing this age cut-off?
On the other hand, has anyone from GoI informed Messrs. Covid-19 & Co, Wuhan, China to not target those less than 45 years of age? Talk about bureaucratic nonsense.
logistics saar, besides co-morbidities in the list seldom found in below 45years of age.
"Registration and booking for appointment for #COVID19 vaccination is to be done through #CoWIN Portal: http://www.cowin.gov.in. There is NO #CoWIN App for beneficiary registration. The App on Play Store is for administrators only," the Union Health ministry tweeted in a bid to clarify matters.
The Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines are more than 80% effective at preventing hospitalisations from COVID-19 in those over 80 after one dose of either shot, Public Health England (PHE) said on Monday, citing a pre-print study.
PHE said the real world study also found that protection against symptomatic COVID in those over 70 ranged between 57-61% for one dose of Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine and between 60-73% for the Oxford-AstraZeneca one four weeks after the first shot.
Chinese hackers target Indian vaccine makers SII, Bharat Biotech, says security firm
A Chinese state-backed hacking group has in recent weeks targeted the IT systems of two Indian vaccine makers whose coronavirus shots are being used in the country’s immunisation campaign, cyber intelligence firm Cyfirma told Reuters.
“The real motivation here is actually exfiltrating intellectual property and getting competitive advantage over Indian pharmaceutical companies,” said Cyfirma Chief Executive Kumar Ritesh, formerly a top cyber official with British foreign intelligence agency MI6.
arshyam wrote:I don't understand this age criteria for those with co-morbidities? Do those with co-morbidities and aged less than 45 have a better rate of resilience? Is there any study backing this age cut-off?
On the other hand, has anyone from GoI informed Messrs. Covid-19 & Co, Wuhan, China to not target those less than 45 years of age? Talk about bureaucratic nonsense.
logistics saar, besides co-morbidities in the list seldom found in below 45years of age.
All the more reason to simply include all with co-morbidities, isn't it? The numbers are not going to increase that much, while ensuring priority for all those who need the vaccine. I have some relatives falling in this bucket and was looking forward to the vaccination phase, and now am seriously unhappy with this bureaucratic BS. I have already seen/heard of younger people with co-morbidities not surviving post a virus incident, and was hoping my relatives in this bucket could be brought under some protection, but no can do, it seems.
Looks like many went and got the vaccine. Modiwali was the first preference. Non hifi people have no issues getting one if Modi says so. Probably all back and forth is limited to the uber educated crowd who are good at arguing.
Day 1 in Mumbai was a mess. The app kept crashing repeatedly. Although you can use any documents for identity verification, in practice Aadhar was the only one being used. Also it requires Aadhar to be linked to your mobile number. The app has UI issues: the icon for booking a time slot is easily missed. It requires alphanumeric elements to be in caps... none of which is mentioned anywhere. Given that this is targeted at 60+ , it has resulted in a mess at the vaccination centres.
Private hospitals are grumbling that Rs250 is too less..
Hopefully as time passes, this will get sorted soon
darshan wrote:Looks like many went and got the vaccine. Modiwali was the first preference. Non hifi people have no issues getting one if Modi says so. Probably all back and forth is limited to the uber educated crowd who are good at arguing.
most people i know are waiting for covaxin. sometimes i hear these English news channels and wonder did i grow up in a bubble. where are these HIFI people coming from??
My wife went and got her vaccination done (I am still waiting for my opthalmologist's second review on my cataract). It was at a Chennai Corporation run primary health centre. She hadn't bothered to wait for CoWin registration. She went to the PHC presented her Aadhaar card. The details were logged onto the system and the jab was given. She didn't have a choice in the matter of vaccine. They had only Covishield. But the process itself was very smooth with the whole process taking less than 10 minutes. Of course she had to stay on in the waiting room for 30 minutes after the jab just in case there was any allergic reaction.
What I am observing on WhatsApp group is in agreement with what's posted by nandakumarji. I didn't see any screenshots of app but rather pictures of paperwork being posted after taking shot. Sometimes technology isn't there but normal person is just used to parchi system.
1) u have to register from cowin website and not cowin app !! trust the babus to F... up everything. 2) for some reason once u book ..choose a hospital it does not show how to book a particular time slot !! no time slots given. Lol . 3) I think govt should have just opened it for all without any conditions maybe just above 45 yrs. I dont see any great rush at private hospitals atleast in delhi.
Are people allowed into the country without proof of Covid vaccination?
If so, are you required to get vaccinated at the airport before entering the country?
This is a problem especially for the elderly population who find it difficult to fill the consent form. (I am sure PM Modi taking Covaxin increased the extent of this problem )
It was also mentioned that the PM as well as the HM and EAM S Jaishanker who all got Covaxin were also placed on a 30 minute observation after vaccination before being allowed to leave. This can't be very helpful to maintaining high throughput. Bharat Biotech is due to report their phase 3 trial data this week or the next. It should enable ICMR to relax the observation requirements.
A Chinese state-backed hacking group has in recent weeks targeted the IT systems of two Indian vaccine makers whose coronavirus shots are being used in the country’s immunisation campaign, cyber intelligence firm Cyfirma told Reuters.
“The real motivation here is actually exfiltrating intellectual property and getting competitive advantage over Indian pharmaceutical companies,” said Cyfirma Chief Executive Kumar Ritesh, formerly a top cyber official with British foreign intelligence agency MI6.
My last job (for over 10 years) was working on a military communications project in the UK. As such I was security cleared (took time due to my Indian ancestry) an I signed the Official Secrets Act which means that I cannot discuss the project here.
The firm I worked for was constantly targeted by hackers "from East Asia" according to one of the security IT employees. The solution was to have two networks in our Laboratories and offices. One "the Commercial network" was for marketing and external communications with other customers, suppliers and for non project emails within the company. It was connected to the Internet and was the company's external interface to the world.
The second network, the "Secure Network" was not physically connected to the commercial network or the Internet. Only security cleared staff could connect to it and their computers/laptops were labelled as secure and were forbidden from connecting to the Commercial network. Most had the DVD and USB interfaces disabled so that data could not be copied off them. Data had to be stored on secure servers. When transmitting to other Secure networks, the links were encrypted with a key supplied by a Government controlled body and the links were provided by a designated supplier and were also secure and maintained by similarly cleared staff.
This type of operation is common in Nato countries and I suspect, in the countries considered hostile. I hope Indian commercial and military companies have similar considerations.
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