Mumbai-based Haffkin Institute has received permission from the Centre on Thursday to manufacture Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin on the basis of transfer of technology.
The owner of the institute, the Maharashtra government thanked PM Modi for the approval and tweeted, “The Dept. Of Science and Technology, Government of India, has granted approval to Haffkin Institute to produce Bharat Biotech’s CovaxinCovaxin vaccine on a transfer of technology basis.”
“CM Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray has thanked Prime Minister for approving this request,” the tweet from the CM Office added.
Maharashtra is currently among the highest Covid case spike states.
India crosses 2 Lakh daily cases today.
The nation reports 2,00,739 new COVID19 cases, 93,528 discharges and 1,038 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per Union Health Ministry
Total cases: 1,40,74,564
Total recoveries: 1,24,29,564
Active cases: 14,71,877
Death toll: 1,73,123
Total vaccination: 11,44,93,238
On Wednesday, the European Union said that it would get 50 million Pfizer vaccine doses earlier than expected after Denmark banned use of AstraZeneca over blood clot links.
The news broke out after U.S. drugmaker Johnson & Johnson delayed its Covid-19 shot among rising caseloads. Referring to the delay, EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said “there are still many factors that can disrupt the planned delivery schedules of vaccines.”
The EMA said J&J was in contact with national authorities and recommended storing doses already received until the safety committee issued an expedited recommendation, reports Reuters.
Europe will receive BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine doses in the second quarter of this year and the delivery will start as soon as this month.
The Central government on Wednesday said that after a meeting with all-existing manufacturers of Remdesivir and other stakeholders, decisions have been taken to increase production and supply and reduce prices of Remdesivir.
Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya made a statement on Wednesday to inform that the current total installed capacity of the seven manufacturers of Remdesivir is 38.80 lakh vials per month.
According to a report, the government has said that fast-track approval has been given for seven additional sites having the production capacity of 10 lakh vials per month to six manufacturers and another 30 lakh vials per month production is lined up. This would ramp up the production capacity for manufacturing to around 78 lakh vials/month.
It also added that manufacturers of Remdesivir have volunteered to reduce the price to less than ₹3,500 by the end of this week in order to contain the spread of the virus and contribute to the Centre’s efforts.
They have also been directed to give priority to fulfil hospital/institutional level supplies.
Meanwhile, Union health Minster Harsh Vardhan today said, “Shortage of Remdesivir happened because its production was reduced as COVID-19 cases were decreasing. Our drug controller and ministry held a meeting with stakeholders and asked manufacturers to strengthen the production.”
As an additional measure, Remdesivir, API and formulation were placed under Export ban on 11.04.2021 by DGFT to increase the supply of Remdesivir in the Domestic Market. On Government intervention, Remdesivir supplies of approximately 4 lakh vials meant for export is being diverted by manufacturers to fulfil domestic requirement. EOU/SEZ units are also being enabled to supply to the domestic market.
Enforcement Authorities of States and Central Govt. have been directed by DCGI to take immediate action on incidence of black-marketing, hoarding and overcharging of Remdesivir.
A Covid-19 patient died after he was allegedly made to wait for one and a half hour at Patna’s Nalanda Medical College & Hospital. The other hospitals did not admit him due to which he came to NMCH.
The son of the deceased said, “My father was Covid-positive. Other hospitals refused to admit him, NMCH agreed. They made us wait outside for 1.5 hours.”
Citing the unfortunate incident, Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey said, “For some days, the number of cases has increased in hospitals, efforts are being made to improve the facilities.”
NITI Aayog Member Dr VK Paul addressed a media briefing on Tuesday where he talked about the “rational, correct and judicial” use of Remdesivir and appealed to the physicians community to do the same.
He said Remdesivir is “only for those who require hospitalization and are on oxygen. That is the precondition.”
The use of the drug outside the established guideline is “unethical, irrational”, said Paul.
Those who are getting treated at home, are asymptomatic, or are showing mild symptoms, there’s no need for them to use this drug, said Paul.
There’s no question of using it in home setting, he said.
The Niti Aayog member also said that Remdesivir is a drug that “has to be supplied only to hospitals, not chemists” and urged the physician community of the country to ensure its rational use in the country.
“This(queuing) outside chemist shops to procure Remdesivir is creating distortions and panic. This is not going in the right way ,” said Paul.
In an unfortunate incident, nine patients died on Monday in two different hospitals at Nalasopara in Palghar district of Maharashtra.
A large crowd gathered at the hospitals as the rumor spread that the cause of their death was shortage of medical oxygen, said a police official.
The situation was closely monitored by senior police inspectors of Tulinj and Nallasopara police stations and senior officers, he added.
“It’s only hospital accepting critical patients in the area. Those patients died either due to their age or co-morbidities,” said a doctor from from one of the two hospitals.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday directed Nagpur District Collector Ravindra Thackeray to distribute Remdesivir injections received through Mylan India and Sun Pharma to other districts of Vidarbha in Maharashtra, reports ANI.
Gadhkari’s office informed that the minister has directed to distribute Remdesivir injections received through Mylan India and Sun Pharma to other districts of Vidarbha as well.
ANI further reports that all domestic manufacturers of Remdesivir have been advised to display on their website, details of their stocklists/distributors to facilitate access to the drug. The drug inspectors and other officers have been directed to verify stocks and check their malpractices and also take other effective actions to curb hoarding and black marketing. The State Health Secretaries will review this with the Drug Inspectors of their respective State/UTs.
India reported over 1.60 lakh new COVID-19 cases and 904 deaths in the last 24 hours, according to the Union Health Ministry.
More than 10 crore doses have been inoculated across India. On Day 85 of vaccination drive, 35,19,987 doses were given.
Cumulatively, 10,15,95,147 vaccine doses were administered through 15,17,963 sessions.
No. of cases registered in the last 24 hours reached 1,52,879 on Sunday, April 11.
Ten states including Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan have shown a steep rise in COVID daily new cases. 80.92% cases were registered from these 10 states.