Health

More than 800,000 people in Russia have been inoculated so far against the new coronavirus and more than 1.5 million vaccine doses have been dispatched, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said on Saturday. Russia, which began rolling out its Sputnik V vaccine in early December, has the world’s fourth higher number of COVID-19 cases and is putting high hopes on several …

India’s drugs regulator on Sunday gave final approval for the emergency use of two coronavirus vaccines, one developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University and the other by local company Bharat Biotech. The world’s second most populous country is now expected to start a massive immunisation programme within weeks, with the AstraZeneca/Oxford shot taking the lead and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin administered under …

Pfizer Inc and its partner BioNTech Se plan to give volunteers who received a placebo in its Covid-19 vaccine trial an option to receive a first dose of the vaccine by March 1, 2021, while staying within the study. The trial’s Vaccine Transition Option allows all participants aged 16 or older the choice to discover whether they were given the …

Veteran talk show host Larry King has been hospitalised with Covid-19, US media has reported. Citing a “source close to the family”, CNN reported that King, one of the network’s biggest stars, has been hospitalised for more than a week at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. King, 87, has Type 2 diabetes and has had a long history …

ISLAMABAD: While Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho had stated that the federal government would supply 250,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses to the province by mid-January, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan seems to be reluctant to confirm the date. “We are trying to get 1.1 million doses of the vaccine at the earliest but I cannot …

ISLAMABAD: The statistics of National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has shown that the coronavirus pandemic claims 82 more lives, whereas, 2,184 new infections were reported during the last 24 hours. In the past 24 hours, 82 more people succumbed to the disease, taking the death toll to 10,258. 1,745 patients have recovered from the virus in a day and …

NEW DELHI: India’s drug regulator on Friday approved a coronavirus vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University for emergency use, two sources with knowledge of the matter said. The decision clears the vaccine’s rollout in the world’s second-most populous country which, after the United States, has the highest number of Covid-19 infections. India wants to start administering the vaccine soon, …

UNITED NATIONS: The World Health Organisation (WHO) has approved the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for emergency use, paving the way for it to be distributed to countries in need. It is the first vaccine to be added to the UN organisations’ Emergency Use Listing (EUL). Regulatory experts convened by WHO from around the world and its own teams reviewed the data on …

KARACHI: The health department on Friday notified the Provincial Vaccine Administration Coordination Cell (PVACC) after getting a commitment from the National Vaccine Task Force and the National Command Operation Centre (NCOC) for supply of the Covid-19 vaccine by Jan 15. Chairing a meeting on the subject, Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho stated that the NCOC and the National Vaccine …

ISLAMABAD: The statistics of National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has shown that the coronavirus pandemic claims 71 more lives, whereas, 2,463 new infections were reported during the last 24 hours. In the past 24 hours, 71 more people succumbed to the disease, taking the death toll to 10,176. 2,156 patients have recovered from the virus in a day and …