Kashmir reports nine fresh COVID-19 related deaths, toll 2,156

Kashmir reports nine fresh COVID-19 related deaths, toll 2,156

Srinagar, Apr 26 (KNO): Nine more COVID-19 patients died on Monday in Kashmir, taking the total number of Coronavirus deaths in Jammu and Kashmir to 2,156.

An official told the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that nine persons who died include 70-year-old male from Mehjoor Nagar, 50-year-old woman from Qamarwari, 59-year-old male from Braen area of district Srinagar, 75-year-old man from D.H pora district Kulgam, 32-year-old man from Shopian, 45-year-old male from Muslim peer PD Sopore, 80-year-old man from Pampore area of Pulwama district, 75-year-old from Tangmarg and 85-year-old from Safapora area of Bandipora district.

The official said that 85-year-old man from Safapora area of Bandipora district was admitted in the hospital on 21 April with Bilateral Pneumonia died at SKIMS Soura on Monday morning.

He added that 70-year-old male from Mehjoor Nagar, 50-year-old woman from Qamarwari, 59-year-old male from Braen area of district Srinagar, 75-year-old man from D.H pora district Kulgam, 32-year-old man from Shopian, 45-year-old male from Muslim peer PD Sopore,  80-year-old man from Pampore area of Pulwama district, 75-year-old from Tangmarg  died at SMHS Hospital Srinagar.

With nine more deaths, the fatalities due to Covid-19 in UT of J&K mounted to 2,156 including 1,342 in Kashmir division and 814 in Jammu division—(KNO).

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Covaxin To Cost Rs 1,200 For Private Hospitals, Rs 600 For States.

The other vaccine maker in the country, Serum Institute of India, will sell its Covishield at Rs 400 a shot to states and Rs 600 to private hospitals.

New Delhi: 

Bharat Biotech's Covaxin will cost Rs 600 for state governments and Rs 1,200 for private hospitals, the company said in a statement today. For exports, the COVID-19 vaccine will cost in the range of $15 to $20.

The other vaccine maker in the country, Serum Institute of India, will sell its Covishield at Rs 400 a shot to states and Rs 600 to private hospitals.

"Recovering costs is essential in the journey of innovation towards other vaccines such as Intranasal COVID-19...Our core mission for the last 25 years has been to provide affordable, yet world-class healthcare solutions for the globe," Bharat Biotech chairman and managing director Krishna M Ella said in the statement.

The company said Covaxin is an inactivated and highly purified vaccine, making manufacturing expensive due to very low process yields. "All costs towards product development, manufacturing facilities and clinical trials were deployed primarily using internal funding and resources of Bharat Biotech," the company said.

India's new round of vaccination drive will start on May 1, and this time those above 18 can take the jab.

The centre has said states should try to register more private vaccination centres in "mission mode".

"The CoWIN platform has now stabilised and is working at scale flawlessly. It is equipped to handle the complexities of the new phase of vaccination starting from May 1," said Dr RS Sharma, chairman of the empowered group on technology and data management on COVID-19.

Mr Sharma said it is important for states to upload correct and timely data as any incorrect data would compromise the integrity of the entire system. The centre asked states to pay "fair and regular remuneration" to frontline health workers.

The surge in Covid cases in recent weeks have led to what is now being called a deadlier second wave of the pandemic. Social media is full of stories of desperate people trying to find oxygen or a hospital bed for their friends and family.

Source:NDTV

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As PM Modi Urges "Lockdowns Only As Last Resort", What Economists Say.

India is now the world's second-worst hit country, lagging only the U.S., after reporting more than 200,000 daily new infections for the last six days.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who last year imposed a strict lockdown on short notice, asked states to avoid shutting businesses as India grapples with a new wave of Covid-19 infections that threatens a nascent economic revival.

India is now the world's second-worst hit country, lagging only the U.S., after reporting more than 200,000 daily new infections for the last six days.

"I urge states that they should consider lockdowns as the last option," PM Modi said in a televised address Tuesday. "They should earnestly try to avoid lockdown and focus on micro-containment zones."

As infections rise the country's health system has been pushed to breaking point, with hospitals around the country reporting shortages of everything from intensive care beds to medical oxygen. Soaring new cases have forced both India's financial and political capitals to impose restrictions on movement, with New Delhi mandating a six-day strict lockdown starting Tuesday.

The nation's benchmark stock index fell to its lowest since end-January on Tuesday and the rupee is Asia's worst-performing currency this month as India became the globe's epicenter of the fresh outbreak.

In February, the central bank said it expects the economy to expand 10.5% in the year that began April 1 after an estimated 7.7% contraction in the previous 12 months.

Renewed lockdowns will cost the country 1% of gross value added in the April-June quarter and more if replicated by other states, according to estimates by HSBC Holdings Plc. Meanwhile, public finances will be hit by the rise in demand for social safety programs, weaker tax revenues and uncertainty about asset sales, HSBC economist Pranjul Bhandari wrote in a note published Tuesday.

PM Modi also said that his government is working with states and companies to augment supplies of medical oxygen and crucial drugs required to fight the pandemic.

Source:NDTV

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Vaccine For All Above 18 Starting May 1.

All adults will be vaccinated in "a liberalised and accelerated Phase 3 strategy of COVID-19 vaccination", the government said in a statement on a day India reported a new record high of 2.73 lakh cases in a day.

New Delhi: 

Vaccinations will be opened to all above 18 from May 1, the government announced today after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a series of meetings over India's response to record daily surges in Covid cases.

All adults will be vaccinated and states can buy vaccines directly from makers in the "liberalised and accelerated Phase 3 strategy of COVID-19 vaccination", the government said on a day the country reported a new high of 2.73 lakh cases in a day.

India began inoculating people in January using two Covid vaccines - Serum Institute of India's Covishield developed by Oxford-AstraZeneca and Bharat Biotech's made-in-India Covaxin. So far, the government had allowed vaccinations only for health workers, frontline workers and those above 45 in a centrally controlled process.

While vaccinations have been slow compared to the centre's target, the country has clocked over two lakh cases daily in the past few days.

Recently, the government fast-tracked approvals for foreign vaccines cleared in other countries.

In his meetings today, PM Modi stressed that vaccination was "the biggest weapon" in the fight against the coronavirus and urged doctors to encourage more and more patients to get vaccinated.

"The government has been working hard for over a year to ensure that maximum numbers of Indians are able to get the vaccine in the shortest possible of time," said the PM.

Here are key points in the liberalized vaccination rules:

• Vaccine manufacturers will supply 50 per cent of their monthly Central Drugs Laboratory (CDL) released doses to the central government and will be free to supply the remaining 50% doses to state governments and in the open market.
• Manufacturers will declaration prices in advance for the vaccines supplied to state governments and in open market.
• Based on this price, state governments, private hospitals, industrial establishments can buy vaccine doses from the manufacturers.
• Vaccinations at central government centres, provided free of cost, will continue for previous categories - health workers, frontline workers and those above 45.
• The Centre will allocate vaccines from its share to States or Union Territories based on the number of cases. Vaccine wastage can affect the quota of a state.
• The second dose for existing priority groups will be priority.

Source:NDTV

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