Omicron spread: Third Covid shot after nine months of second jab

 Student ID card will be considered as a proof to register on CoWIN

The gap between the second and the third doses of Covid vaccines given to co-morbid elderly, and health care and frontline workers has been set at least nine months, guidelines for Covid vaccinations for children and precaution dose issued on Monday said. Covaxin is the only option for children between 15 years and 18 years, the government said.

The Ministry of Health guidelines noted that in view of the recent global surge in Covid-19 cases, detection of Omicron variant, scientific evidence, and inputs and suggestions of ‘Covid-19 Working Group of the National Technical Advi­sory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI)’, as well as of ‘Standing Technical Scientific Committee (STSC)’ of NTAGI, India has decided to modify its Covid vaccination policy. Vaccinations for the age group of 15-18 years open on January 3.

“For such beneficiaries, vaccination option would be ‘Covaxin’ only,” the guidelines noted. A senior government official said this was done according to advice from the NTAGI, which has not recommended the Zydus Cadila vaccine for use on those under 18 years.

Serum Institute gets DCGI nod to resume clinical trial of Oxford vaccine

DCGI gave permission to Serum Institute to resume clinical trial of the Oxford Covid-19 vaccine candidate in the country

Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) Dr V G Somani on Tuesday gave permission to Serum Institute of India to resume clinical trial of the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine candidate in the country while revoking its earlier order of suspending any new recruitment for phase two and three trial.

The DCGI, however, put certain conditions like taking extra care during screening, providing additional information in informed consent and close monitoring for adverse events during follow-up of the study which have to be “scrupulously” followed by Serum Institute of India (SII). SII has also been asked to submit to the DCGI’s office details of medication used in accordance with the protocol for management of adverse events.

The DCGI had on September 11 directed Serum Institute of India to suspend any new recruitment in the phase two and three clinical trial of the Oxford COVID-19 vaccine candidate till further orders in the backdrop of pharma giant AstraZeneca pausing the clinical trials in other countries because of ”an unexplained illness” in a participant in the study. On Saturday, British-Swedish biopharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford said clinical trials for their coronavirus vaccine have resumed in the UK after the Medicines Health Regulatory Authority’s (MHRA) confirmed that the trials were safe…

India in talks to join COVAX vaccine allocation scheme, says WHO official

The WHO and the GAVI vaccine alliance are leading the COVAX facility, aimed at helping buy and distribute vaccination shots against the novel coronavirus fairly around the world

The World Health Organization is in talks with India about joining the “COVAX” global vaccine allocation plan, a senior WHO adviser said on Monday. “India is certainly eligible, like all countries in the world, to be part of the COVAX facility and discussions are ongoing in that regard,” Bruce Aylward told a briefing in Geneva. “We would welcome Indian participation …India has extensive experience (with vaccines).”

The WHO and the GAVI vaccine alliance are leading the COVAX facility, aimed at helping buy and distribute vaccination shots against the novel coronavirus fairly around the world. But some countries that have secured their own supplies through bilateral deals, including the United States, have said they will not join COVAX.

Covid-19 crisis: China using potential vaccine since July, says official

No vaccine has yet passed final, large-scale trials to prove it is safe and effective enough to protect people from contracting the virus that has led to almost 800,000 deaths worldwide

China has been giving experimental coronavirus vaccines to groups facing high infection risks since July, a health official told state media. No vaccine has yet passed final, large-scale trials to prove it is safe and effective enough to protect people from contracting the virus that has led to almost 800,000 deaths worldwide.

The aim is to boost the immunity of specific groups of people, including medical workers and those who work at food markets and in the transportation and service sectors, Zheng Zhongwei, a National Health Commission official, told state TV in an interview aired late on Saturday.

The guidelines for emergency use of potential coronavirus vaccines, approved on June 24 according to Zheng, have not been made public. State media Global Times reported in June that China had been offering candidate coronavirus vaccines to employees at state-owned firms travelling overseas.

WHO in contact with Russia on new Covid-19 vaccine: Spokesman

WHO is in close contact with Russia regarding a possible pre-qualification of the world’s first Covid-19 vaccine, a WHO spokesman said

The World Health Organization (WHO) is in close contact with Russia regarding a possible pre-qualification of the world’s first COVID-19 vaccine, a WHO spokesman said. “We are in close contact with the Russian health authorities and discussions are underway regarding a possible pre-qualification of the vaccine by WHO,” WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said at a virtual press briefing on Tuesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

“The pre-qualification of any vaccine involves rigorous review and evaluation of all the data required for safety and efficacy” in clinical trials, said Jasarevic, adding that at the WHO level, this process would be the same for any vaccine candidate. “Each country has national regulatory bodies that approve the use of vaccines or drugs in its territory,” he said. “Manufacturers are asking for WHO pre-qualification because it is a kind of seal of quality.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that his country has registered the world’s first vaccine against the novel coronavirus. Putin said he hoped that the mass production of the vaccine registered in Russia should begin in the near future, and vaccination will be available to everyone in the country voluntarily…Read Full Story

Coronavirus protein redesigned in lab, may enable stable vaccine production

Scientists have redesigned a key protein from coronavirus which it uses to enter and infect human cells, an innovation that may lead to faster and more stable production of vaccines

Scientists have redesigned a key protein from the novel coronavirus which it uses to enter and infect human cells, an innovation that may lead to much faster and more stable production of vaccines against COVID-19. According to the researchers, including those from the University of Texas at Austin in the US, most COVID-19 vaccine candidates train the human immune system to recognise a key protein on the surface of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 called the spike (S) protein to fight infection.

In the current study, published in the journal Science, the scientists designed a new version of this protein which can be produced up to 10 times more in cells than that of an earlier synthetic S protein already in use in multiple COVID-19 vaccines. “Depending on the type of vaccine, this improved version of the protein could reduce the size of each dose or speed up vaccine production,” said study senior author Jason McLellan from the University of Texas at Austin. “Either way, it could mean more patients have access to vaccines faster,” McLellan said.

The new protein, dubbed HexaPro, is also more stable than the team’s earlier version of the S protein, which according to the scientists should make it easier to store and transport. They said the new S protein also keeps its shape under heat stress, during storage at room temperature, and through multiple freeze-thaws — qualities that are desirable in a robust vaccine.

Banaras Hindu University to study Use of Ashwagandha on Covid-19 warriors

IMS in BHU will study use of Ashwagandha as a test drug for prophylactic use among frontline health workers and Yashtimadhu for supplementary therapy as a standard treatment of Corona patients

The Institute of Medical Sciences (IMS) in the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) will study the use of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) as a test drug for prophylactic use among frontline health workers and Yashtimadhu (Glycyrrhiza glabra) for supplementary therapy as a standard treatment of Corona patients with mild and moderate symptoms.

According to Professor Anand Chaudhary, head of the department of Rasa Shastra, of Ayurveda faculty IMS-BHU and centre coordinator for the project, “As a part of the project of ministry of AYUSH, Indian Council of Medical Research and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the university was assigned the task of conducting studies on Ashwagandha and Yashtimadhu.”

He said, “Ashwagandha will be tested for study in prophylactic use among frontline health workers of SSL Hospital of BHU and other healthcare workers, while Yashtimadhu will be tested as drug for adjunct therapy with the standard treatment of conventional medicine on Covid-19 patients under treatment in BHU with mild and moderate symptoms.”

New vaccine to offer treatment for acne

Do you often suffer from acne? Take heart, a potential vaccine that targets the bacterial toxins may soon be on the anvil, say researchers.

Health News : Instead of invading pathogens, the new vaccine would be the first to target bacteria already in human skin.

The researchers demonstrated that antibodies to a toxin secreted from bacteria in acne vulgaris can reduce inflammation in human acne lesions.

“Once validated by a large-scale clinical trial, the potential impact of our findings is huge for the hundreds of millions of individuals suffering from acne vulgaris,” explained lead investigator Chun-Ming Huang, from the University of California-San Diego, US.

An acne vaccination could circumvent potential adverse effects of topical or systemic retinoids and antibiotics, the current treatment options.

They found that Christie-Atkins-Munch-Peterson (CAMP) factor — a toxin secreted from the Propionibacterium acnes (P. acnes) bacteria, can induce inflammatory responses.

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