A UK-based research found that six COVID-19 vaccines are safe, effective, and elicit a significant immune response when administered as booster doses after two initial doses of either the Oxford-AstraZeneca or Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
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The US Food and Drug Administration approved Eli Lilly’s COVID-19 dual-antibody therapy for the treatment of mild to moderate symptoms in all children, including infants, who are at risk of serious disease on Friday.
Bamlanivimab with etesevimab had previously been approved for youngsters aged 12 and above who weighed at least 88 pounds.
“Children under one year of age, who are exposed to the virus that causes COVID-19, may be at particularly high risk for severe COVID-19 and this authorization addresses the medical needs of this vulnerable population,” said Patrizia Cavazzoni, director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.The FDA authorization also allows the administration of the therapy as a preventive measure in children who are exposed to the virus.
The therapy, however, is not a substitute for vaccination, Cavazzoni said.
In the last 24 hours, India has seen 8,603 new instances of the novel coronavirus, with 415 fatalities as a result of the illness. According to statistics released on Saturday by the Union Health Ministry, the country experienced a total of 8,190 discharges in the past 24 hours, bringing the overall recovery rate to roughly 98.35 percent, the highest since March 2020, and total recoveries data to 3,40,53,856.
The total active cases of COVID-19 in India have declined to 99,974, the ministry data showed today.
Over 126.53 crore vaccine doses have been administered so far under the Nationwide Vaccination Drive.
The total death toll in the country is now at 4,70,530. In India, the first death due to the COVID pandemic was reported in March 2020.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 64,60,26,786 samples have been tested up to December 3 for COVID-19. Of these 12,52,596 samples were tested on Friday.
India has reported 9,216 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The total number of active cases in the country is currently 99,976. So far, the Nationwide Vaccination Drive has administered about 125 crore vaccine doses.
The rapid spread of the new Omicron variety around the globe is causing dread and anxiety among countries and governments alike. According to news agency PTI, the omicron version of COVID-19, which had not been detected in the US until the middle of this week, had been discovered in at least five states by the end of Thursday. This paints a clear picture of how virus mutations can readily travel their way across any environment. Two South African travellers were also tested “preliminarily positive” for the Omicron version of COVID-19 after arriving in Singapore, according to the Singapore Ministry of Health.
All primary and secondary contacts of both Omicron-positive patients have been traced and are being tested, according to the health ministry’s joint secretary Lav Agarwal. Both patients are males in their sixties, ages 66 and 46, with modest symptoms. He went on to say that no severe symptoms had been observed.
Despite the uproar surrounding Omicron, experts have advised people to remain calm and take adequate precautions to avoid the new form. New varieties will continue to emerge, according to Dr. Ashok Seth, Executive Director of the Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, but the key is to remain cool and not worry. “If we’re properly vaccinated and follow COVID guidelines, we can protect ourselves from any variety,” he told news agency ANI.
3.46 cr Corona cases have been reported in India and 4.6 Lakh people died – this is 1.36% of total cases. 25,000 cases and 340 deaths per million population reported in India – this is one of the lowest in the world: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in Lok Sabha #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/q7hWapZXla
— ANI (@ANI) December 3, 2021
UK approves new treatment against Covid that may work against Omicron
The UK’s drugs authority authorised a novel antibody therapy for Covid-19 on Thursday, believing it will also work against emerging variations like Omicron.
Xevudy or sotrovimab, according to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), is for persons with mild to moderate Covid-19 who are at high risk of developing severe illness.
Sotrovimab is a single monoclonal antibody developed by GSK and Vir Biotechnology that operates by attaching to the spike protein on the surface of the Covid-19 virus. As a result, the virus is unable to connect to and penetrate human cells, preventing it from replicating in the body.
“I am pleased to say that we now have another safe and effective Covid-19 treatment, Xevudy (sotrovimab), for those at risk of developing severe illness,” said Dr June Raine, MHRA Chief Executive.
“This is yet another therapeutic that has been shown to be effective at protecting those most vulnerable to Covid-19, and signals another significant step forward in our fight against this devastating disease. With no compromises on quality, safety and effectiveness, the public can trust that the MHRA have conducted a robust and thorough assessment of all the available data,” she said.
Sotrovimab is administered by intravenous infusion over 30 minutes and is approved for individuals aged 12 and above who weigh more than 40 kg. The MHRA said “it is too early to know” whether the Omicron variant has any impact on sotrovimab’s effectiveness, but they plan to work with the manufacturers to establish this.
But based on preliminary lab studies, researchers say the drug targets a part of the spike protein of the virus that has not yet undergone big changes or mutations, meaning it should work well against all variants.
A single dosage of the monoclonal antibody was reported to lower the probability of hospitalisation and mortality in high-risk persons with symptomatic Covid-19 infection by 79 percent in a clinical investigation. Sotrovimab is most effective in the early stages of infection, according to clinical trial data, hence the MHRA recommends using it as soon as possible, within five days after symptom start.
“When administered in the early stages of infection, sotrovimab was found to be effective at reducing the risk of hospitalisation and death in high-risk individuals with symptomatic Covid-19. Based on the data reviewed by the Commission and its expert group, it is clear sotrovimab is another safe and effective treatment to help us in our fight against Covid-19,” said Professor Sir Munir Pirmohamed, Chair of the UK’s Commission on Human Medicines.
Like molnupiravir, which is an antiviral pill treatment in use, the new therapy has been authorised for use in people who have mild to moderate Covid-19 infection and at least one risk factor for developing severe illness. Such risk factors include obesity, older age groups of 60 and above, diabetes mellitus, or heart disease.
The MHRA reiterated that sotrovimab is not intended to be used as a substitute for vaccination against Covid-19. Following the approval, the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) will confirm how this Covid-19 treatment will be deployed to patients.
Covid cases in South Africa increase two fold in a day amid Omicron scare
Authorities in South Africa announced Wednesday that new cases of Covid-19 nearly quadrupled in a day, indicating a substantial increase in the country where scientists discovered the omicron version last week.
According to official figures, the number of new confirmed cases increased to 8,561 on Wednesday, up from 4,373 the day before.
Following the identification of the novel omicron type, scientists in South Africa have predicted a substantial increase in Covid-19 cases.
“There is a possibility that really we’re going to be seeing a serious doubling or tripling of the cases as we move along or as the week unfolds,” Dr Nicksy Gumede-Moeletsi, regional virologist for the World Health Organization, told The Associated Press. “There is a possibility that we are going to see a vast increase in the number of cases being identified in South Africa.”
South Africa had seen a period of low transmission in early November with a 7-day average of about 200 new cases per day, but in the middle of November new cases began to rapidly increase. The new cases reported Wednesday represent a 16.5% positivity rate of cases tested, up from a 1% rate early in November.
It’s too early to be certain that the omicron variant is responsible for the rise in cases, but it is very possible, say experts. Standard PCR tests can suggest that a positive case is caused by Omicron, but only a full genetic sequencing can confirm it.
Labs in South Africa and Botswana are urgently doing genomic sequencing to study omicron cases in order to see if it is significantly more transmissible, causes more serious cases of COVID-19 or if it evades protection from vaccinations, said Gumede-Moeletsi.
“The current data that we have is still very limited. So there are so many additional characteristics of this virus that the researchers are busy studying, of which transmissibility is one of them. Severity is also another,” she said, adding that researchers also need to find out if current vaccines will still be effective against it.
Hospitalizations for COVID-19 are rising in South Africa, but not at the dramatic rate of the new cases.
The omicron variant has been detected in five of South Africa’s nine provinces and accounted for 74% of the virus genomes sequenced in November, the country’s National Institute for Communicable Diseases announced Wednesday.
According to data supplied by the institution, the mutation was first detected in South Africa on Nov. 8 in Gauteng province. The delta version accounted for the majority of genomes sequenced in the country until the end of October, according to the report, but the omicron form overtook it in November.
The first verified case of Omicron, a novel strain of Covid, has been reported in the United States, in a traveller who recently returned from South Africa. This is the first known instance of the novel variety in the United States, which was discovered by South African investigators.
“Today, the CDC has confirmed the first case of the Omicron variant detected in the United States,” White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said on Wednesday.
“We know what it takes to limit the spread of COVID: Get vaccinated, get boosted, and take public health measures like masking and distancing. We will remain steadfast in our fight against this virus. And we will continue to be guided by the science and proven public health measures to keep people safe,” he added.
The first documented case in the United States is a fully vaccinated Californian who returned from South Africa on November 22 and tested positive seven days later.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease officer, told reporters at the White House that the person had minor symptoms and was in self-quarantine.
During a White House coronavirus briefing, Rochelle P. Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, noted that as part of the intensified efforts to fend off novel variants, the US has expanded genome sequencing to 80,000 samples per week, more than any other country.
Meanwhile, the number of new cases reported in South Africa doubled from Tuesday to Wednesday.
Britain and the United States have both expanded their booster programs in response to the new variant.
The WHO has noted many times that the coronavirus will keep producing new variants for as long as it is allowed to circulate freely in large unvaccinated populations.
Some 56 countries were reportedly implementing travel measures to guard against Omicron as of Nov. 28, the WHO said.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres slammed what he called “travel apartheid.”
“Blanket travel bans will not prevent the international spread and they place a heavy burden on lives and livelihoods,” the WHO said, while advising those who were unwell, at risk, or 60 years and over and unvaccinated to postpone travel.
The United States has barred nearly all foreigners who have been in one of eight southern African countries.
The Union Health Ministry informed Maharashtra on Wednesday that its revised guidelines for international travellers, following the emergence of the Omicron variant, are “in divergence” with Central norms, and urged it to “align” them for “uniform implementation” in the latest tussle between the Centre and Maharashtra over Covid norms.
However, Maharashtra Chief Secretary Debashish Chakraborty told The Indian Express that the state will not “amend or revise” its guidelines — for now. Later, official sources indicated that there “might be some changes” Thursday with revisions to some restrictions.
“Under the Disaster Management Act and Epidemic Diseases Act, the state government holds the power to put in additional conditions to prevent the spread of the virus. So the state, acting in accordance with its authority, has decided not to mend or revise the current guidelines issued for international passengers,” he said.
According to Chakraborty, the Centre’s communication is “an advisory, not a compulsion”. “There are basic requirements that need to be observed, which we are following. In future, if any changes need to be made, considering the local situation and convenience of international passengers, we will consider them,” he said.
Earlier Wednesday, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan wrote to Maharashtra Additional Chief Secretary Dr Pradeep Kumar Vyas that four specific guidelines passed by the state for international travellers are “in divergence with the SoPs and guidelines issued” by the Ministry.
According to the Centre, the four key points of divergence are:
* Mandatory RT-PCR testing of all international travellers at Mumbai airport, irrespective of country of origin. The Centre has mandated such testing only for those from “at risk” nations.
* Mandatory 14-day home quarantine for all international passengers who test negative upon arrival. The Centre had specified seven days.
* Mandatory RT-PCR test for passengers planning to take connecting flights after disembarking at Mumbai; further travel is subject to a negative RT-PCR result. The Centre does not have such a norm.
* Requirement of negative RT-PCR test 48 hours prior to date of journey for domestic passengers travelling from other states to Maharashtra, irrespective of vaccination status. The Centre has not issued such a guideline.
“I would, therefore, urge you to align the orders issued by the state with the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health…so that uniform implementation of the guidelines may be ensured across all states. I would also advise that such modified orders of the state government are given wide publicity to obviate any inconvenience to travellers,” Bhushan wrote.
Maharashtra has also mandated institutional quarantine of seven days for all passengers coming from “at-risk countries”, which is not part of the Centre’s latest guidelines.
This is not the first time that the Centre and Maharashtra have differed over issues linked to Covid, particularly after Maharashtra flagged the issue of vaccine shortage and lack of adequate medical oxygen supply several times.
On April 7, the then Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan, responding to remarks from Maharashtra’s Ministers on vaccine shortage, had said that there were “deplorable attempts” by the state government to “distract attention from their failures and spread panic among the people”.
On April 17, Union Railways and Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal had posted on Twitter that he was “saddened to see” Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s “gimmicks” on oxygen, claiming that Maharashtra had received the maximum quantity of oxygen in the country.
This story has been published from a syndicate feed with some changes to the text and headline.
Covid case Update: 8,954 new cases logged in India, lowest active cases in 547 days
India saw a modest increase in the daily infection total on Wednesday, with 8,954 new Covid-19 cases recorded across the country, up from 6,990 cases the day before.
In the last 24 hours, 267 people have died as a result of the viral illness, which is greater than the 190 deaths reported on Tuesday. The overall number of confirmed infections was 34,596,776 people, with 469,247 people dying.
The active caseload fell below the 100,000-mark after 547 days, the Union health ministry said.
It declined by 1,520 cases and stood at 99,023, the data showed. “Active cases account for less than 1% of total cases, currently at 0.29%; Lowest since March 2020,” the ministry said in a statement.
The daily recoveries continued to remain higher than daily infections. Data updated on Wednesday showed 10,207 people were discharged from hospitals during the previous 24 hours as the total recoveries reached 34,028,506 with a recovery rate of 98.36%, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said.
As far as vaccinations are concerned, the cumulative number of doses administered under the country’s vaccination drive exceeded the 1.24 billion-mark.
“With the administration of 80,98,716vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, India’s COVID-19 vaccination coverage has exceeded 124.10 Cr (1,24,10,86,850) as per provisional reports till 7 am today,” the ministry said in a statement.
Vaccine for at-risk children by next month, says Covid Task Force Chief NK Arora
Dr. NK Arora, chairman of the country’s Covid Task Force, told NDTV today that vaccination for children with comorbidities will begin in December, followed by the vaccine launch for healthy children in the first quarter of next year. According to him, there is also a push to cut the number of doses of ZyCoV-D – the Zydus-Cadilla vaccine from three to two.
A “prioritisation process” for the country’s 44 crore children is in place, he said, and a list of comorbidities is being developed, just as it is for adults.
“We will go in a stepwise manner. But ultimately, I think somewhere in the latter half of December, I think we should be able to start the paediatric vaccination for priority children. And soon as soon as we finish these, which are 10 to 15 per cent, we move on to healthy children,” Dr Arora told NDTV in an exclusive interview.
Outlining the plan, he said while they are waiting for the dosage trial results of ZyCov-D, “Covaxin has also finished trial and we are expecting by December-end and Covovax (from Serum Institute of India) also to finish their paediatric trial,” he said.
Asked why the authorities are going ahead with with ZyCoV-D or Covishield for children without the approval of the WHO, he said, “We have seen the data, there are no safety concerns” as these are all inactivated vaccines.
Contending that opening of schools is “almost like an emergency” as the children are suffering from “cognitive and intellectual, physical and all sort of social developmental issues”, Dr Arora said, “I would request the whole country this state governments and the private sector schools that schools must be open”.
“Parents should send their children because we have a good a cohort of immunised adults. And special efforts have been made that all schools and staff are immunized. Parents should see that all adults in their families where children are going to school are also immunised, so that children are covered by a ring of protection. In addition to that … most of the children are already infected. So they are protected in a way,” he said.