COVID-19

Dr. Reddys Laboratories Ltd announced that it has received the permission from the Drug Controller General of India(DCGI)to import the Sputnik vaccine into India for restricted use in emergency situations as per the provisions of the New Drug and Clincial Trials rules, 2019 under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act.

A clinical trial is underway to determine whether people who are highly allergic or have a mast cell disorder are at increased risk for an immediate, systemic allergic reaction to the Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines. A systemic allergic reaction to a vaccine occurs in one or more parts of the body beyond the injection site.

The fresh surge in COVID-19 cases has now confirmed that the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic is here and is expanding its footprints in India. The study by the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) and CSIR-Institute of Microbial Technology (I M Tech) proved the presence of Coronavirus in air samples in Covid-19 wards of hospitals.

Updated information is being provided for people and healthcare professionals on the possible risk of extremely rare and unlikely to occur specific types of blood clots following vaccination with the COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said.

The AstraZeneca US Phase III trial of AZD1222 demonstrated statistically significant vaccine efficacy of 79% at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 and 100% efficacy at preventing severe disease and hospitalisation. This interim safety and efficacy analysis was based on 32,449 participants accruing 141 symptomatic cases of COVID-19. The trial had a 2:1 randomisation of vaccine to placebo. Vaccine efficacy was consistent across ethnicity and age. Notably, in participants aged 65 years and over, vaccine efficacy was 80%.

Zydus Cadila announced that its Phase III clinical trials with Pegylated Interferon Alpha 2b, PegiHepTM has shown promising results in treating COVID-19. In what could be a breakthrough in the disease management of COVID-19, the interim results indicate that PegIFN when administered early on, could help patients recover faster and avoiding much of the complications seen in the advanced stages of the disease. PegIFN in COVID19 has several add-on advantages compared to other anti-viral agents.

Genome sequencing of thousands of SARS-CoV-2 samples shows that surges of COVID-19 cases are driven by the appearance of new coronavirus variants, according to new research from the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California, Davis, published April 1 in Scientific Reports.

Despite rising cases of corona infection, the rate of deaths due to Covid-19 outbreaks has been lower in India than in the US and the United Kingdom. This has emerged in a new study by scientists of the National Institute of Immunology (NII) and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) based in New Delhi. Researchers say one of the reasons for the decrease in the rate of deaths caused by Covid-19 in India may be prior exposure to the corona responsible for the common cold.

ICMR reported that Covishield and Covaxin vaccines are effective against the UK and the Brazilian variants of coronavirus, and several laboratories are involved in work against South African strain. Addressing a weekly press conference of the Union health ministry, ICMR Director-General Balram Bhargava also said of 11,064 genome samples sequenced in the country, the UK variant of the virus was detected in 807, the South African variant in 47 and the Brazilian variant was found in one.