Wuhan Coronavirus Resource Thread

[Sridhar K]

Though I posted it on Twitter, sharing my own fight with the wuhan virus. I got eligible to get vaccinated (was on the cusp of 45 bucket) on 1st may but got fever on 1st of May with body pain and was on home quarantine with medication, recovering nicely after the end of the first week. Did not have cough or cold. I was isolated at home. In the middle of second week, took the blood test as suggested by doctor and indicated normal infection but next day, I started coughing when trying to speak. Doctor advised me to take CT scan and the infection score was 17/25. Spo2 levels started dropping and search for hospitals with oxy bed went throughout the night. one private hospital told me they can hold me for 1-2 days max but I need to find someplace. there were oxygen and remdeshivir black marketers abound.

My wife's cousin through some 3-4 levels of referrals , got me admitted into a Covid recovery center in (Meant for recovered patiends and had oxy support beds and no ICU) at 2:00 AM in the morning. After initial antibiotics + steriods + oxygen, they shifted me to the Govt. Multi-speciality hospital in an ambulance to handle any potential escalations. Was put up in a conference room converted to Covid ward with 8 other patients. The hospital had makeshift tents with people pouring in from multiple private hospitals. Started recovering with the dosage of steriods and finally 5 doses of remedshivir, which did accelerated my healing and got discharged last Saturday.

However with the TN Govt, setting up new centers, existing staff were spread across to manage multiple facilities. There was hardly any nursing support to take care of patients. (bed pans, food....) and families were forced to support taking the risk. In the initial days when I was struggling on oxy support, my wife was with me and so were many attenders from family. Some were doing attender duties for a charge while families struggled to take care of near and dear ones. My wife contracted Covid and she is now isolated at her sisters home. In the whole time, came to know of so many people who were not lucky like me, died without oxy bed support. Family friends, colleagues, acquaintances who are no longer there. God has been kind to me to get me admitted through some unknown Govt. Hospital person at the right time.

There were so many stories of private hospitals unable to take load due to oxygen shortages, ambulance drivers, auto rickshaw wallahs driving people across hospitals to find a oxygen bed. There were volunteers like NGO, Isha etc. serving food to attenders in hospital and lot of good Samaritans trying to help.

Optics apart, it is babus who run the show and manage the situ on the ground while politicians manage the optics. While I say that, the set up created by Dr. Vijaybhaskar, the earlier ADMK health minister in wave 1 really helped set up a basic template to manage the patient flow. Oxygen bed and its shortage across private and Govt. hospitals was a big difference in wave 2. Plus the deaths during recovery has also been high. TN had time to plan basis what happened in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore but since there was a Govt in transition, so much crucial lead time was not utilized.

However, so many politicians, media, BIF have blood on their hands with creating vaccine hesitancy, allowing deliberate spread of virus like farm protests, creating unwanted migration in the middle of lockdown by sending buses etc.

[vijayk]

Glad to see you recover Sridharji ... Best wishes for your full recovery.

We need to use this opportunity to clean healthcare across the board. There needs to be a National Health Services across the nation. Few months ago I saw NDA started 14 AIIMS ... what good are these if we just train people who never service the nation and common man is not even beneficial. Only some kids gets into colleges, get a degree, go and make a ton of money. AIIMS hospitals serve only privileged from towns/cities. We need a huge infra for every person regardless of his class.



Will these make any dent in our needs?

[Amber G.]

Thanks for the post, Sridhar. Wish you the best and hope more people listen to you.

[Amber G.]

Meanwhile I am proud to see IITK incubated company Noccarc growing and contributing to the nation! - they are producing 100+ ventilators *every day* which is extremely impressive - starting from a professor's lab, students, alums contributing and producing a company in less than a year..

We have multiplied our production capacity by 5 times!
Our 50,000 sq. ft. Manufacturing Unit at #pune now delivers 100+ ventilators a day! We are proud to share that it is not just a milestone, but a true example of the #teamwork of our changemakers that has made Noccarc live its dream.
A year back during the 1st wave of COVID-19, the immediate need of the nation was to resolve the scarcity of ventilators. We took up this challenge & we came up with NOCCARC V310- An advanced ICU Ventilator.
All through our journey, we were always sure of one thing, just developing a product would never be enough. To meet the demand of the nation, keeping intact our value to 'never compromise on quality', we steadily amplified our capabilities through the last few months and on the 23rd May 2021, we achieved our all-time record by producing 103 ventilators in a single day.
Our achievement was just a dream a few weeks back. It is the contribution of every department, right from the procurement to the dispatch, which has made Noccarc live the dream!

[Manish_P]

Meanwhile I am proud to see IITK incubated company Noccarc growing and contributing to the nation! - they are producing 100+ ventilators *every day* which is extremely impressive - starting from a professor's lab, students, alums contributing and producing a company in less than a year..

Indeed Amber ji. In these time of gloom, it is good to see such stories of a spirited people using their knowledge and contributing to the fight back. Quite a lot of good stories about contributions from DRDO, HAL and Naval design Bureau etc. Hope others get inspired to emulate in whatever way they can. Lot of export potential too, in the future.

Am slightly surprised though that there haven't been any stories of innovation from our Automobile makers. I am not an engineer but i had hoped that our auto majors would repurpose some of their machinery/know-how to develop some useful products (need not be very complex machinery).. maybe tie-up with the likes of the above company or DRDO etc and license produce things like OBOGs/Ventilators/Oxygen concentrators etc. Might have helped their bottom-lines during this lean period and would have generated tremendous brand good will too..

[venkat_kv]

^^^ Dr Harshvardhan was elected as chair of WHO’s Executive Board and he may succeed Tedros when his term expires (in 2022 or so) who is at present Director-General .

thanks for the info Amber G.

[venkat_kv]

^^^
Suarj San on Twitter was commenting that Covaxin has applied for the WHO EUL status recently. They should get the result out in a little while.
Also, he says that Sinopham is not in the WHO list, but the report above by Kakkaji states that Sinopham is in the WHO list.
Suraj saar, also points out that J&J vaccine failed inspection in the US plants even though its in the list and gets all of their US vaccines from the Netherlands facility.

https://twitter.com/surajbrf/status/1396157862292824066

Boss, please quote me properly. I said Sinovac, not Sinopharm. To make matters worse, there are multiple Sinopharms - the Sinopharm BIBP (Beijing Institute of Biological Products) and the Sinopharm WIBP (Wuhan Institute of Biological Products). Only Sinopharm-BIBP has WHO EUL listing, even though it has no published Ph3 data either.

Here's the current WHO EUL/PQ List, directly referencing their latest on their site: WHO EUL/PQ Covid-19 Vaccine Status

my apologies for oversight on my part Suraj Saar, should have observed more closely.

[vera_k]

Not so good news about vaccine effectiveness. Second doses would have to be sped up if one does is not very effective at reducing serious complications.

Two doses of Covid vaccines provide effective protection against variant found in India

Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was 88% effective against symptomatic disease from the B.1.617.2 Covid variant

two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were found to be 60% effective against symptomatic disease from the B.1.617.2 variant from India

both vaccines were only 33% effective against symptomatic disease from B.1.617.2 three weeks after the first dose

[g.sarkar]

https://www.rediff.com/news/report/sput ... 210524.htm
Sputnik V production begins in India; 100mn jabs to be manufactured per year
Source: PTI- Edited By: Utkarsh Mishra, May 24, 2021
Domestic pharma major Panacea Biotec in collaboration with Russian sovereign wealth fund Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has begun the production of 'Sputnik V' COVID-19 vaccine in India, according to a joint statement issued on Monday.
As announced in April, the (RDIF) - which markets the vaccine internationally, and Panacea Biotec agreed to produce 100 million doses per year of Sputnik V in India.
The first batch of the COVID-19 vaccine produced at Panacea Biotec's facilities at Baddi in Himachal Pradesh will be shipped to Russia's Gamaleya Center for 'quality control', the joint statement said.
Full-scale production of the vaccine is expected to start this summer, the statement said, without disclosing the exact month in which the large-scale production would start.
......
Gautam

[Tanaji]

Why ship to Russia for QC? Why not do that in India?

[saip]

After almost 3 weeks the new infections are below 200k and the deaths have fallen below 3500. Hope we have turned the cornder

[Kakkaji]

COVID-19 Vaccination Update- Day 129

Cumulative Vaccine Coverage exceeds 19.84 Crore

More than 1.18 Cr beneficiaries of age group 18-44 Vaccinated so far

More than 23.6 lakh Vaccine Doses administered today till 8 pm

The cumulative number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the country exceeded 19.84 Cr (19,84,43,550) as per the 8 pm provisional report today.

12,52,320 beneficiaries of the age group 18-44 years received their first dose of COVID vaccine today and cumulatively 1,18,81,337 across 37 States/UTs since the start of Phase-3 of the vaccination drive. Bihar, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have administered more than 10 lakh beneficiaries of the age group 18-44 years for their first dose of COVID vaccine.

As on Day-129 of the vaccination drive (24th May, 2021), total 23,65,395 vaccine doses were given. 21,90,849 beneficiaries were vaccinated for 1st dose and 1,74,546 beneficiaries received 2nd dose of vaccine as per the provisional report till 8 P.M.

Daily number over 2 million after a long time. More than half in the 18-44 group.

[Kakkaji]

Bharat Biotech submitted 90 per cent of documents to WHO for emergency use listing for Covaxin: Sources

Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) has conveyed to the government that it has already submitted 90 per cent of documents to WHO for obtaining emergency use listing (EUL) for the Covaxin vaccine, sources said on Monday. The remaining documents are expected to be submitted by June, the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech Ltd told the Central government during a discussion on obtaining the World Health Organisation's authorisation for emergency use listing for Covaxin, sources said.

[Kakkaji]

COVID mortality associated with 2 signs easily measurable at home: Study

A new study on COVID patients has found that abnormal blood-oxygen levels and breathing rates are strong predictors of poor patient outcomes in hospitals.

The study, published in the journal Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, done on 1,095 patients hospitalised with COVID-19, discovered that two easily measurable signs of health, respiration rate, and blood-oxygen saturation are distinctly predictive of higher mortality. Notably, the authors said, anyone who receives a positive COVID-19 screening test can easily monitor for these two signs at home.

[Kakkaji]

More information required from Bharat Biotech for emergency use listing of Covaxin: WHO

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said “more information” is “required” from Bharat Biotech, which is seeking emergency use listing (EUL) for its Covaxin vaccine for COVID-19.

The latest ‘Status of COVID-19 Vaccines within WHO EUL/PQ evaluation process' guidance document dated May 18 on the WHO website said Bharat Biotech submitted EOI (Expression of Interest) on April 19 and that “More information required”. A pre-submission meeting is expected “to be planned May-June 2021,” the guidance document said.

Meanwhile, Bharat Biotech International Limited (BBIL) has conveyed to the government that it has already submitted 90 per cent of documents to WHO for obtaining emergency use listing (EUL) for the Covaxin vaccine, sources said on Monday.

The remaining documents are expected to be submitted by June, the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech Ltd told the Central government during a discussion on obtaining the World Health Organisation's authorisation for emergency use listing for Covaxin, sources said.

"BBIL is confident about obtaining WHO's emergency use listing," said a source.

[Suraj]

Finally our press has discovered Google and instead of waving their hands around blindly about 'Covaxin recipients may not be able to travel because of something called WHO EUL that we are not going to bother to look up or explain' scaremongering with absolutely no basis than quoting some 'immigration expert' fellow, they are now quoting the same WHO document I looked up and posted a few days ago.

It is disheartening that the press lacks the competence to do basic research.

[Anujan]

The frustrating thing about that is, it might be creating vaccine hesitancy: "My maamu's friend's second cousin lives in Amreeka and I might have to visit, so let me wait for Covidshield" or "WHO goras dont like Covaxin, so I will only take gora approved covidshield".

The sensationalist articles in the press is actually causing societal harm.

Someone who could have been vaccinated with Covaxin, who hesitated, are susceptible to getting Covid. Worse still, can spread it to friends and family who are vulnerable.

The only thing that the press should be hammering is "Everyone get a vaccine. If possible, convince 4 of your friends and family to get it too". My own extended family got covid. There were a few deaths. All 70+. All eligible for vaccination. Somehow did not get it. I am not sure if it was because of the hassle, they did not take the threat seriously, or they read some whatsapp forwards and bullsh*t articles like these.

[Tanaji]

I am convinced that there is a section of people who want the pandemic to keep going. This section is composed of:

Politicians who want to score brownie points over BJP and Modi and hide their own incompetence
Press who love the news cycle of unending drama
Assorted businessmen whose businesses are thriving due to pandemic
Social media types such as Sonu SOod who love the attention they are getting
Hospitals obviously

The categories of course overlap. Some of these are actively contributing to hamper GoI efforts at halting the pandemic by spreading FUD …

[Kakkaji]

Vaccination drive: Corporates provide a smoother route

While vaccination for the 18-44 age group has been slow in most States due to the shortage of doses, the inoculation drive by many large corporates have been providing an alternative route to many. Companies such as Tech Mahindra, TCS, Swiggy and Maruti have set up vaccination centres for their employees and families.

Similar is the case of 70-year-old Srinivas Rao who got vaccinated at his son’s office. “ Instead of standing in long queues in this heat for hours, the vaccination initiative by my son’s office has been a blessing. It took just 20 minutes to get my shot,” says Rao.

This comes even as many States are facing a shortage of doses at hospitals.

Maharashtra, for example, has halted vaccination for those in the 18-44 age group. In other States, senior citizens have had to wait hours in long queues to get vaccinated.

“If corporates are getting vaccines for their employees and families, then how come hospitals are not getting adequate stock. Perhaps, the drug companies are selling vaccines at a higher price to corporates,” said a pharma industry executive.

For companies, providing vaccine to employees and families is a way to minimise the impact of the pandemic on their workforce.

Harshvendra Soin, Global Chief People Officer & Head – Marketing, Tech Mahindra, said: “Timely vaccination for everyone is our best chance to win this war against Covid-19. As India battles second wave of the pandemic, our first and foremost priority is to get all our associates, their families and our entire partner ecosystem vaccinated at the earliest. As part of our #ResolveToRISE initiative, we are taking proactive measures and collaborating with leading hospitals to organise vaccination drives to ensure 100 per cent employee vaccination.”

“Our delivery partners and frontline staff continue to assist consumers, especially through the recent movement restrictions. Swiggy has been advocating the need for them to get priority access to the vaccination. The vaccination drive is a proactive step in ensuring their safety and also that of our consumers. Thousands of partners have already received their first dose, and we are confident that a large portion of our fleet will participate and get themselves vaccinated in the coming weeks,” said Vivek Sunder, COO, Swiggy.

[Kakkaji]

Telangana to start second vaccination drive from Tuesday

Prepare guidelines and organise special vaccination centres, says CM

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has instructed the officials to start the second vaccination programme from Tuesday.

The CM has asked the people who have taken the first dose of the vaccine and are eligible for the second vaccination to go to the government vaccination centre nearby and take the vaccine.

[Atmavik]

^^^ that is some badly needed good news. I knew about TCS but looks like others are also joining in. We need these supplemental vaccination capacity as production of vaccine ramps up from June/July . Hope we go back to 4 million a day mark by July

[ritesh]

We need to aim to get to 10 million a day by roping in practically all the small small clinics in cities towns and village. It should be made available through a secured logistics for family doctors to easily procure and then administer in his area of ops.

[Zynda]

Efforts should be made to rope in small clinics in cities & towns. Currently, most small clinics in BLR who were earlier (up to April end) participating in vaccination are now sitting idle. They say that BBMP is not supplying them with stocks (even for 45+ along with 2nd dose vaccinations) and I doubt they have the financial muscle or willing to take such a feat, like big chain hospitals to order stocks on their own directly from SII or BB. So most of them say "you look out for another venue to get vaccination"...

Anyways, I do think by early July, situation will start improving...when the output from them vaccine factories increases significantly, it has to reach people...corrupt corporations like BBMP cannot hoard vaccines beyond a certain amount and have to start supplying to various centers. I just hope that vaccine OEMs are able to match their outputs forecasts closely and no new major obstacles come in the way.

[chetak]

Efforts should be made to rope in small clinics in cities & towns. Currently, most small clinics in BLR who were earlier (up to April end) participating in vaccination are now sitting idle. They say that BBMP is not supplying them with stocks (even for 45+ along with 2nd dose vaccinations) and I doubt they have the financial muscle or willing to take such a feat, like big chain hospitals to order stocks on their own directly from SII or BB. So most of them say "you look out for another venue to get vaccination"...

Anyways, I do think by early July, situation will start improving...when the output from them vaccine factories increases significantly, it has to reach people...corrupt corporations like BBMP cannot hoard vaccines beyond a certain amount and have to start supplying to various centers. I just hope that vaccine OEMs are able to match their outputs forecasts closely and no new major obstacles come in the way.

If anybody black markets or sells vaccines out of turn, as indeed, many are doing, the blame automatically goes to Modi and other BJP state govts, even if the @h0!e$ doing this are paapis or congis

[chetak]

[csaurabh]

OK, so I just tried the Cowin website for the first time. Registration and login is fine. But no slots are available.
Meanwhile we seem to be doing less vaccinations while supply is going up. What gives?

Cowin scheduling is dumb. If there is a massive number of applications, I should be able to schedule an appointment for vaccination in say, August or September? But it seems like you can only schedule on the same day. And the slots are always booked.

Vaccination drive is FUBARED because of politics when it was simply a matter of supply and demand. Instead we got into the futile nonsense of centre vs states and how much the vaccines cost.

[vijayk]

#COVID19 - Outbreak In India
@outbreak_india
#LargestVaccineDrive
Day 129: Flag of India #vaccination update on 25-May at 7 AM as per
@MoHFW_INDIA


Syringe Total Doses: 19,85,38,999 Up-pointing triangle 24,30,236

Syringe Dose1: 15,52,35,374 Up-pointing triangle 22,51,452
Syringe Dose2: 4,33,03,625 Up-pointing triangle 1,78,784

#COVID19 - Outbreak In India
@outbreak_india
#LargestVaccineDrive

Day 129:India #vaccination update on 24-May till 8 PM as per
@MoHFW_INDIA


SyringeTotal Doses: 19,84,43,550 Up-pointing triangle 23,65,395

SyringeDose1: 15,51,44,087 Up-pointing triangle 21,90,849
SyringeDose2: 4,32,99,463 Up-pointing triangle 1,74,546

Good news ... just ramped up to 2.4 MIL last 2 days

[Atmavik]

Efforts should be made to rope in small clinics in cities & towns. Currently, most small clinics in BLR who were earlier (up to April end) participating in vaccination are now sitting idle. They say that BBMP is not supplying them with stocks (even for 45+ along with 2nd dose vaccinations) and I doubt they have the financial muscle or willing to take such a feat, like big chain hospitals to order stocks on their own directly from SII or BB. So most of them say "you look out for another venue to get vaccination"...

Anyways, I do think by early July, situation will start improving...when the output from them vaccine factories increases significantly, it has to reach people...corrupt corporations like BBMP cannot hoard vaccines beyond a certain amount and have to start supplying to various centers. I just hope that vaccine OEMs are able to match their outputs forecasts closely and no new major obstacles come in the way.

If anybody black markets or sells vaccines out of turn, as indeed, many are doing, the blame automatically goes to Modi and other BJP state govts, even if the @h0!e$ doing this are paapis or congis

i know a couple of municipal level politicians who got hold of some vaccine vials. they were asking a few doctors in our appt complex on how to administer these to their supporters. they got an earful and a reality check about storage and expiry after opening the vial. but the damage has been done.

these guys are creating a shortage and wasting vaccine. this 50 % to states was a bad idea to begin with.

[Kakkaji]

Today's official vaccination numbers

COVID-19 Vaccination Update- Day 130

India crosses a major landmark with more than 20 Cr Cumulative Vaccine Doses administered so far

More than 1.28 Cr beneficiaries of age group 18-44 Vaccinated so far

More than 18.7 lakh Vaccine Doses administered today till 7 pm

India has crossed a significant landmark in its fight against COVID19 pandemic today. The country has administered more than 20 Cr (20,04,94,991) Vaccine Doses as per the 7 pm provisional report today.

9,42,796 beneficiaries of the age group 18-44 years received their first dose of COVID vaccine today and cumulatively 1,28,74,546 across 37 States/UTs since the start of Phase-3 of the vaccination drive. Bihar, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have administered more than 10 lakh beneficiaries of the age group 18-44 years for their first dose of COVID vaccine.

As on Day-130 of the vaccination drive (25th May, 2021), total 18,77,419 vaccine doses were given. 16,90,691 beneficiaries were vaccinated for 1st dose and 1,86,728 beneficiaries received 2nd dose of vaccine as per the provisional report till 7 P.M.

After an uptick yesterday, the daily numbers have dropped below 2m again.

[Kakkaji]

Moderna's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine in India likely next year; Pfizer ready with 5 crore doses for 2021

Moderna is expecting to launch a single-dose COVID-19 vaccine in India next year and is in talks with Cipla among other Indian firms, while another US giant Pfizer is ready to offer 5 crore shots in 2021 itself but it wants significant regulatory relaxations including indemnification, sources said on Tuesday.

While Moderna has conveyed to Indian authorities that it does not have surplus vaccines to share in 2021, there are limited prospects of Johnson & Johnson exporting its jabs from the US to other countries in the near future, the sources privy to discussions added.

Two rounds of high-level meetings chaired by the Cabinet Secretary were held last week on the availability of vaccines in the global as well as domestic markets as it was felt that there is an urgent need to procure the jabs at a time the country is reeling under an unprecedented second wave of COVID-19 and a widening gap between supply and requirement.

It is learnt that Cipla has already evinced interest in procuring 5 crore doses from Moderna for 2022 and has requested confirmation from the central government in respect of stability in regulatory requirements/policy regime. The Health Ministry has also been asked to take an early decision on Cipla's request regarding support required by them for procurement of Moderna vaccines.

In the case of Pfizer, the US pharma giant has indicated availability of 5 crore vaccine doses -- 1 crore in July, 1 crore in August, 2 crore in September and 1 crore in October --for supply to India in 2021 and that it will deal only with Government of India and payment for vaccines will have to be made by GOI to Pfizer India.

The central government will make its own arrangement for further channelization of procured vaccines in the domestic market.

According to another source, for the supply of vaccines to India, Pfizer has asked for indemnification from the Government of India and a document in this regard has been received from Pfizer Inc.

Further, Pfizer has also sought certain relaxations in the regulatory regime, including relaxation in the requirement of post-approval bridging trials and dispensing the requirement of testing their vaccines in CDL (Central Drugs Laboratory).

Taking into consideration the track record of the company, similar arrangements done with other countries in the world and the current pandemic situation, an overall view may be taken to indemnify the company by the government, officials said but flagged that in case a view is taken to indemnify the company, similar demands may be made by other companies.

It was suggested that a decision on the issue of Pfizer Inc may be taken at the earliest and that NEGVAC (National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19) may hold a meeting immediately on these issues.

[Kakkaji]

Covaxin reached 30 cities in 30 days, says Bharat Biotech's Suchitra Ella

Bharat Biotech Co-Founder and Joint MD Suchitra Ella on Tuesday said that Covaxin has reached thirty cities in thirty days despite some employees being off work due to COVID. "COVAXIN reaches 30 cities within 30 day. All our employees are committed, working 24x7 thru lockdowns for the country's immunisation - pls send your prayers to their families, some are still quarantined & off work," Ella said in a tweet.

By way of dispatch to private hospitals, the vaccine has reached various cities, including Amritsar, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Ernakulam, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Kanpur, Kolkata, Guwahati, Mysore, Pune, Raipur, Mohali and Vijayawada.

Last week, Bharat Biotech said it plans to produce additional 200 million (20 crore) doses of Covaxin at its subsidiary's facility in Gujarat. This will take the overall production volume of the vaccine to about 1 billion (100 crore) doses per annum.

[Jarita]

This Pfizer/ Moderna racket needs to be kept out of India until all regulatory hurdles are cleared. The perception of shortfall is being created by state Level lobbies for enable these monopolists to come into India.
It’s not worth the risk.

[Suraj]

Today's official vaccination numbers

COVID-19 Vaccination Update- Day 130

India crosses a major landmark with more than 20 Cr Cumulative Vaccine Doses administered so far

More than 1.28 Cr beneficiaries of age group 18-44 Vaccinated so far

More than 18.7 lakh Vaccine Doses administered today till 7 pm

India has crossed a significant landmark in its fight against COVID19 pandemic today. The country has administered more than 20 Cr (20,04,94,991) Vaccine Doses as per the 7 pm provisional report today.

9,42,796 beneficiaries of the age group 18-44 years received their first dose of COVID vaccine today and cumulatively 1,28,74,546 across 37 States/UTs since the start of Phase-3 of the vaccination drive. Bihar, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have administered more than 10 lakh beneficiaries of the age group 18-44 years for their first dose of COVID vaccine.

As on Day-130 of the vaccination drive (25th May, 2021), total 18,77,419 vaccine doses were given. 16,90,691 beneficiaries were vaccinated for 1st dose and 1,86,728 beneficiaries received 2nd dose of vaccine as per the provisional report till 7 P.M.

After an uptick yesterday, the daily numbers have dropped below 2m again.

I've posted an interesting observation in my latest thread: https://twitter.com/surajbrf/status/139 ... 20996?s=20

Basically, the 'daily vaccination count' data appears to be just the central number. The center cannot easily resolve which day to credit a vaccination to, and this datapoint is failing to keep track adequately. CDC data in US has shown a similar problem - they too face 'we know how many were consumed, but not when'. Here's a recent example:
May 20: https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage ... ID=1720480
May 19: https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage ... ID=1720110

May 20 reported: 14,56,088
May 20 cumulative - May 19 cumulative: 19,18,10,604 - 18,69,89,265 = 48,21,339

This was always seen, but has gotten much worse in May. As far as I can tell, center cannot get state level daily figure in time, but they have a clearer picture of how many vaccinations were used up, which they use to incremental the cumulative figure. They just don't know when it was given - the same problem CDC data has had.

When you look at the data plotted as a day to day difference, then the drop in May is not so significant, and the peak of April was also very shortlived:

[Jarita]

Is there any realistic estimate and source of casualties from COVID in China? We need to discuss this to understand how they have covered up.

[IndraD]

More information required from Bharat Biotech for emergency use listing of Covaxin: WHO

what information was needed to approve sinopharm which doesn't work

[nachiket]

Someone who could have been vaccinated with Covaxin, who hesitated, are susceptible to getting Covid. Worse still, can spread it to friends and family who are vulnerable.

The only thing that the press should be hammering is "Everyone get a vaccine. If possible, convince 4 of your friends and family to get it too". My own extended family got covid. There were a few deaths. All 70+. All eligible for vaccination. Somehow did not get it. I am not sure if it was because of the hassle, they did not take the threat seriously, or they read some whatsapp forwards and bullsh*t articles like these.

I don't know if we should call the problem as vaccine "hesitancy" as much as vaccine "indifference". Yes stupid reporting and scare mongering by the press did give some people pause but anecdotal (and totally unscientific I know) evidence suggests to me that far more people were just not bothered or scared enough till well after the yellow matter hit the fan by mid-end April. And some weren't even after that. When my social media was filled with SOS calls for oxygen and hospital beds and the media was continuously running stories of terrible tragedies in Mumbai and Delhi there were still stories of people in the rural areas being indifferent and considering covid to be a largely city problem with them being somehow unaffected. That changed very quickly in May as we know.

My parents have had a tough time convincing their maid to get vaccinated. She kept saying at first that only middle class people in apartment buildings were getting affected. No one was infected or dying where she lived. Which may even have been true but this lady was working in multiple apartment buildings every day. Eventually when she agreed, no vaccine slots were available. People seem to believe they are somehow safe till it hits someone close and only then do they panic. By then it is too late and they end up losing someone. This whole pandemic would not have been this bad if only people had been scared enough for at least their own lives (to say nothing of others).

[nachiket]

OK, so I just tried the Cowin website for the first time. Registration and login is fine. But no slots are available.
Meanwhile we seem to be doing less vaccinations while supply is going up. What gives?

Cowin scheduling is dumb. If there is a massive number of applications, I should be able to schedule an appointment for vaccination in say, August or September? But it seems like you can only schedule on the same day. And the slots are always booked.

Have been hearing the same from friends and family in Mumbai. The slots supposedly open up at midnight but people tried staying up and checking continuously after the stroke of midnight but were unable to find any open slots. Trying randomly at different times of the day didn't help either. People even created whatsapp groups and drew up a schedule for different people to check the app at different times to see if they saw open slots. After that failed they predictably descended into conspiracy theories about the app being hacked etc. It is astounding to see how quickly that happens.

My parents and others who did get vaccinated on time did so using walk-ins. Their first doses in April were fairly straightforward. But once the vaccination was opened up for everyone after the second wave hit their second dose was much tougher to get. They had to drive around to multiple centers to find one where they could get in. Not everyone has that luxury and things have only gotten worse.

[Kakkaji]

Good details of GoI's new guidance to accelerate and smoothen the vaccination drive:

Centre asks states to plan for scaling up vaccination through stocks, supplies till June-end

The Centre on Tuesday advised states and UTs to plan for scaling up vaccination coverage through available stocks and anticipated supplies till the end of June, while private hospitals were advised not to allow offline vaccine registration as all registrations should be online.

The Union Health Ministry, which held a review meeting through a video conference with administrators from states and UTs on the progress of vaccination, urged the states and UTs to make complete use of the available flexibilities on CoWIN to enhance the pace of vaccination drive, a Health Ministry statement said.

The visibility of anticipated supplies of each tranche with expected date of delivery up till June 15 for free supply by Government of India and till June 30 for directly procured vaccine doses by states has been provided by the Union Health Ministry to all states and UTs, the statement said.

They were advised to constitute a two or three member dedicated team to regularly coordinate with vaccine manufacturers for timely supplies of vaccine through 'other than Government of India channel' which also includes private hospitals (the list of private hospital along with doses contracted and supplied is being shared daily with states and UTs).

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan held a review meeting through video conference with administrators from states and UTs on the progress of vaccination, modifications on CoWIN software that will provide more flexibility to vaccine administrators, along with the effective implementation of SoPs for containment and management of COVID (particularly in areas underserved by health infrastructure).

A detailed presentation on the progress of the countrywide vaccination drive was presented, with a focus on states and UTs that are lagging behind in providing coverage to the vulnerable population groups.

The coverage of first and second doses to healthcare workers (HCWs) and frontline workers (FLWs) state-wise was reviewed. The scope to substantially speed up vaccination in this category was stressed, the statement said.

States and UTs were advised to prepare a district-wise, Covid Vaccination Centre (CVC)-wise plan for administration of COVID-19 vaccine till June 15 and use multiple media platforms for dissemination of such a plan, the statement said.

They were also advised to prepare and quickly implement decentralised communication strategy to address vaccine hesitancy in rural, tribal or hard-to-reach areas. Lactating women among healthcare and frontline workers who have not received vaccination are to be prioritised, the statement said.

States and UTs were advised to make proactive efforts for engagement of private sector hospitals in COVID-19 vaccination and ensure monitoring for pace of vaccination and strict adherence to SOPs of vaccination shared by Government of India.

It was re-emphasised that both government and private CVCs are required to publish their calendar on CoWIN in advance and should desist from publishing single day calendars to ensure that there is no overcrowding at the CVCs and the process of booking appointments on CoWIN is hassle-free, the statement said.

States were also informed that Russian vaccine Sputnik has now been added to CoWIN portal.

It was reiterated to the states that as per the latest advisory shared with them regarding workplace Covid Vaccination Centres (CVCs), family members as defined by the employers will henceforth be covered for vaccination. Furthermore, there will be special sessions for 'Persons Without Identity Cards', the statement said.

Another flexibility added on CoWIN is that there will be a provision for separate sessions for 18-44 years and 45+ years categories. Sessions can now be rescheduled instead of cancellation while recording the reason for the same.

Private hospitals were advised not to allow offline vaccine registration as all registrations should be online. It was also clarified that industrial organizations and corporate entities that don't have a hospital are required to tie up with a private
hospital.

Private hospitals were also advised to publish adequately longer schedules of vaccination in terms of days.

Regarding the publication of schedule, states have been advised to fix a time duration in a day for publishing the schedule (e.g. between 8 am and 9 am, 9 pm to 10 pm etc.) to make it easier for citizens to see availability and book appointments in a simple and easy manner, the statement said.

[Aditya_V]

OK, so I just tried the Cowin website for the first time. Registration and login is fine. But no slots are available.
Meanwhile we seem to be doing less vaccinations while supply is going up. What gives?

Cowin scheduling is dumb. If there is a massive number of applications, I should be able to schedule an appointment for vaccination in say, August or September? But it seems like you can only schedule on the same day. And the slots are always booked.

Have been hearing the same from friends and family in Mumbai. The slots supposedly open up at midnight but people tried staying up and checking continuously after the stroke of midnight but were unable to find any open slots. Trying randomly at different times of the day didn't help either. People even created whatsapp groups and drew up a schedule for different people to check the app at different times to see if they saw open slots. After that failed they predictably descended into conspiracy theories about the app being hacked etc. It is astounding to see how quickly that happens.

My parents and others who did get vaccinated on time did so using walk-ins. Their first doses in April were fairly straightforward. But once the vaccination was opened up for everyone after the second wave hit their second dose was much tougher to get. They had to drive around to multiple centers to find one where they could get in. Not everyone has that luxury and things have only gotten worse.

Myself and ShQ got first dose it after spending about 120 hrs on Cowin, typically slots open at random, but from my experience most hospitals load their quota for the next day between 4-5pm or 7:30 AM to 10: 00 AM. Initially it seems 98% is filled offline using contacts, HR networks for large companies, specific Community associations( like say Jain community Chennai) - basically large groups of influential persons. Relatives of Doctors etc, I suspect the system will become more transparent when supply increases and these influential persons are done with. One of my confirmed appointment on Cowin also got cancelled by a Hospital for their own reasons.

[ramana]

K. Sridhar glad you recovered.
However, be careful for the next three to six weeks.
Make sure you have proper blood thinners.

Contact Prasanna Simha who is treating a lot of patients.