Heena Sharma Blog

  The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that the B.1.1.529 lineage of Sars-CoV-2, thought to have emerged in southern Africa, is to be designated as a variant of concern (VoC) named omicron . This decision has already precipitated a broad shift in priorities in pandemic management on a global scale. The WHO has recommended, among other things, increased surveillance, particularly virus genome sequencing; focused research to understand the dangers posed by this variant; and ramping up mitigation measures, such as mandatory mask wearing. Greater restrictions on international travel have already come into force in the UK and many other countries. Indeed, Japan has closed its borders to all foreign visitors. The speed with which the omicron variant was designated a VoC was dizzying. A little over two weeks passed since the first known infections in Botswana and South Africa. Contrast this with the delta variant that is currently dominant in Europe and many other parts ...

  The World Health Organisation has said that it is closely monitoring a new coronavirus "variant of interest" named Mu, warning that the new variant shows signs of possible resistance to vaccines. Mu - also known by its scientific name as B.1.621 - was first identified in Colombia in January 2021, and since then, there have been "sporadic reports" of cases and some larger outbreaks in South America and Europe, the UN health agency said in its weekly bulletin on the pandemic on Tuesday. The cases of the Mu variant have also been reported in the UK, Europe, the US and Hong Kong. The new 'variant of interest' is being closely monitored, the UN health agency said. Although the global prevalence of the Mu variant among sequenced COVID-19 cases is currently below 0.1%, its prevalence in Colombia (39%) and Ecuador (13%) has consistently increased, it said. The new variant was added to the WHO's watchlist on August 30 after it was detected in 39 cou...

  The risk of developing adverse events such as blood clots is considerably higher after infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus than after immunisation with Pfizer and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines , according to a large UK study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) on Friday. The team led by researchers at the University of Oxford in the UK conducted the study on thrombocytopenia -- a condition with low platelet counts -- and thromboembolic events or blood clots following COVID-19 vaccination with Oxford-AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech preventives. Some of these events have led to restricted use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, known as Covishield in India, in a number of countries. The researchers compared rates of adverse events after vaccination with rates of the same events after a positive SARS-CoV-2 test result using data from over 29 million people in the UK who received the first dose of either of the two vaccines. Read More

  India reported 37,593 new cases of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours with Kerala contributing to a majority of 24,296 fresh infections. As per the Union Health Ministry on Wednesday, 648 new fatalities pushed the cumulative toll to 4,35,758. The total caseload in the country climbed to 3,25,12,366 including 3,22,327 active cases. Active cases now account for less than 1 per cent of the total cases and is currently at 0.99 per cent. Cumulative recoveries rose to 3,17,54,281 after 34,169 fresh recoveries in the last 24 hours. With this, the recovery rate has gone up to 97.67 per cent. Read More

  India has added 36,401 new COVID-19 infections , taking the total tally of cases to 3,23,22,258, while the death toll has climbed to 4,33,049 with 530 more fatalities, according to Union health ministry data updated on Thursday. The national recovery rate has improved to 97.52 per cent, the highest since March last year, according to the data updated at 8 am. The ministry said that active cases have declined to 3,64,129, the lowest in 149 days, and comprise 1.13 per cent of the total infections, the lowest since March last year. A reduction of 3,286 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. Read More

  An Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) study conducted in Chennai has found that the Delta variant has the potential to infect both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, but it reduces mortality among the former group. According to a study published in the Journal of Infection on August 17 and approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee of ICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai indicates that the prevalence of the Delta variant or B.1.617.2 was not different between the vaccinated and unvaccinated groups. "B.1.617.2 has the potential to infect both vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. However, the progression of illness seems to be prevented by vaccination. Therefore, non-pharmaceutical interventions must continue to slow down the transmission. Additionally, the pace and scale of vaccination have to be increased to mitigate the further waves of the pandemic," the report read. "Systematic genomic surveillance must be carried out to moni...

  India has administered more than 88.13 lakh COVID-19 vaccine doses in the last 24 hours, the highest ever vaccination achieved in a single day, the Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday. In a tweet, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said, "India achieves the highest single-day record in #COVID19 vaccine doses.Yesterday will go down in the history of the world's #LargestVaccineDrive.Congratulations." Cumulatively, 55,47,30,609 vaccine doses have been administered through 62,12,108 sessions across India, as per the provisional report till 7 am. Besides, the ministry said more than 56.81 crore vaccine doses have been provided to states and UTs so far through all sources and a further 1,09,32,960 doses are in the pipeline. Of this, the total consumption including wastage is 55,11,51,992 doses, according to the data available at 8 AM. Read More

  Mumbai has recorded its first death due to the Delta Plus variant of coronavirus with a 63-year-old fully vaccinated woman succumbing to it in July, a civic official has said. Following her death, at least two of her close contacts have also been found infected with the Delta Plus variant, which is considered highly infectious, he said. It is the second death due to this variant in the state as it had claimed the life of an 80-year-old woman from Ratnagiri district on June 13. That woman had not taken even a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine, officials said. In the latest case, the woman, a resident of eastern Mumbai suburb of Ghatkopar died on July 27 while undergoing treatment in a hospital ICU. However, it was only on August 11 that the state government authorities came to know that she was infected with the Delta Plus variant which came to light in the genome sequencing report, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official said. Read More

  India's drug regulator has given approval for a study to be conducted by the Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore on mixing of COVID-19 vaccines Covaxin and Covishield , official sources said on Wednesday. An expert panel of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) on July 29 had recommended granting permission for conducting the study. The trial will involve 300 healthy volunteers. "The aim of the study is to assess the feasibility on whether a person can be given two different vaccine shots -- one each of Covishield and Covaxin -- to complete the inoculation course," a source said. Separately, a recent study by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) involving 98 people, 18 of whom had inadvertently received Covishield as the first dose and Covaxin as the second in Uttar Pradesh, showed that combining these two COVID-19 vaccines elicited better immunogenicity than two doses of the same vaccine. Read More    

  India saw a single day rise of 38,164 new coronavirus infections , while the death toll climbed to 4,14,108 with 499 fresh fatalities, the lowest in over three months, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday. The COVID-19 case tally has climbed to 3,11,44,229. The active cases have declined to 4,21,665 and comprise 1.35 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate stands at 97.32 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed. A decrease of 995 cases has been recorded in the active COVID-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours. Also, 14,63,593 tests were conducted on Sunday taking the total cumulative tests conducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 44,54,22,256, while the daily positivity rate was recorded at 2.61 per cent. It has been less than three per cent for 28 consecutive days, the ministry said, adding the weekly positivity rate has declined to 2.08 per cent. Read More