With countries like the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada have begun administering the population with Covid shots for emergency cases, the search for an anti-coronavirus vaccine has entered a crucial phase. Many countries are preparing to vaccinate their citizens on a priority basis.
Pfizer Inc-BioNTech SE vaccine candidate has been approved for emergency case use by several countries while other vaccine candidates are in line to get the approval.
Meanwhile, the global tally of Covid-19 cases has reached more than 73 million with over 1.6 million succumbing to the virus, as per worldometers. Nearly 52 million people, too, have recovered from the disease.
Here are the latest developments on the Covid-19 vaccine candidates:-
- The United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) on Tuesday said its Moderna’s vaccine candidate preliminary analysis data confirmed safety and efficacy. The FDA uncovered "no specific safety concerns" or allergic reactions in the Moderna trials. An outside experts jury is expected to approve the vaccine on Thursday, to be followed with the FDA’s approval. The Moderna’s use announcement came a day after the vaccination drive of the Pfizer candidate started across the US.
- Dr VK Paul, NITI Aayog member, on Tuesday, said the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had recently granted permission to Pune-based Gennova Pharmaceuticals Limited to conduct phase 1 and 2 trials of its vaccine candidate. The company’s vaccine candidate is called HGCO19, which is based on the same technology - mRNA - as that used by the Pfizer vaccine candidate.
- Oman joined the list of countries to permit the use of Pfizer’s vaccine candidate, its state-run agency announced on Tuesday. The vaccine in Oman will be employed on people above the age of 16. Oman’s neighbouring countries Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have already allowed the use of the Pfizer candidate’s shot.
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- San Francisco has announced that the city has administered the first Covid-19 vaccines to frontline health care workers, at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. The city will initially receive 12,675 vaccine doses, which will be allocated first to acute care facilities.
- Indonesia has an unusual plan to first vaccinate its young people before senior citizens. The country will concentrate on vaccinating people between 18 to 59 years of age, beginning with those working on the front lines such as health workers, the police, and the military.