Covid-19: Won’t be enough vaccines for whole world for 4 to 5 years, says Serum Institute chief
Twenty-five MPs tested positive for the coronavirus.
The chief of the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, the Serum Institute of India, has said that it seems unlikely that everyone in the world will be vaccinated for another four to five years given the pace of production right now.
Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia tested positive for the coronavirus on Monday. Twenty-five Members of Parliament also tested positive for the coronavirus. Members were requested to get themselves tested for the infection 72 hours before the start of the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
Meanwhile, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, while addressing Parliament, claimed that India has been able to limit its coronavirus cases and deaths.
India’s coronavirus case count on Monday rose to 48,46,428 with 92,071 new cases. The toll rose by 1,136 to 79,722. As many as 37,80,108 people have recovered from the infection.
Globally, the coronavirus has infected more than 2.88 crore people and killed 9,22,441, according to the Johns Hopkins University. The number of worldwide recoveries has crossed 1.95 crore.
Read our top 10 updates on the pandemic.
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Live updates
10.45 pm: The CEO of the Serum Institute in Pune, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, says that it will take four to five years for everyone on the planet to get the coronavirus vaccine, reports Financial Times. According to Adar Poonawalla, the production capacity of pharmaceutical companies does not match the vaccination timeline given by some world leaders.
“I know the world wants to be optimistic on it . . . [but] I have not heard of anyone coming even close to that [level] right now,” he says. Poonawalla estimates that around 15 billion doses of the vaccine will be needed, as it will be a two-shot vaccine.
“I still don’t see a proper plan on paper to do that [in India] beyond 400m doses,” he tells Financial Times. “You don’t want a situation with the vaccine where you have capacity for your country but you can’t consume it.”
The Serum Institute has been conducting clinical trials of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which appears to be the first that might be available to people in 2021. Trials of the Oxford vaccine, as it is otherwise called, were temporarily put on hold after one of the volunteers fell ill last week.
9.55 pm: Rajasthan adds 1,730 new cases and 14 deaths, taking its tally to 1,04,138.
9.41 pm: West Bengal’s coronavirus tally on Monday rose to 2,05,919 after ,211 more people tested positive for the infection, PTI reports. The toll rose by 58 to 4,003.
9.38 pm: National Conference President Farooq Abdullah said the reported shortage of medical oxygen in Jammu hospitals was worrisome and alleged that nothing substantial was being done to alleviate the problem, PTI reports.
9.36 pm: The Maharashtra government announces that all vehicles carrying oxygen supplies will be considered as ambulances for a period of one year, PTI reports. The government said this would be done to facilitate smooth and timely supply of oxygen in hospitals for treating Covid-19 patients.
9.34 pm: The Supreme Court will hold a “Mind Matters” workshop on Tuesday in collaboration with the Institute of Human Behaviour & Allied Sciences for officials, advocates and litigants of the top court, to enable them to cope with the stress and anxieties during the pandemic, ANI reports.
9.32 pm: Punjab registers 2,496 new Covid-19 cases and 70 deaths on Monday, pushing the state’s tally to 82,113, ANI reports. The toll rises to 2,424.
9.28 pm: Jammu and Kashmir registers 1,299 coronavirus cases on Monday, taking the Union Territory’s overall count to 55,325, ANI reports. The toll from the disease stands at 895.
9.28 pm: Andhra Pradesh’s tally of coronavirus cases rises to 5,75,079, after 7,956 new infections were recorded on Monday, ANI reports. The toll rises by 60 to 4,972.
9.25 pm: Karnataka registers 8,244 coronavirus cases and 119 deaths on Monday, pushing the state’s tally to 4,67,689, and the toll to 7,384, ANI reports.
9.21 pm: Maharashtra records 17,066 coronavirus cases and 257 deaths on Monday, ANI reports. With this, the state’s tally climbs to 10,77,374 and the toll stands at 29,788.
9.20 pm: Mumbai records 2,256 new coronavirus cases and 31 deaths on Monday, pushing the city’s tally to 1,71,949, ANI reports. The toll rises to 8,178.
8.15 pm: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia tests positive for the coronavirus. He will now isolate himself, he announces on Twitter.
6.22 pm: Kerala records 2,540 new coronavirus cases, 2,110 recoveries and 15 deaths on Monday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan says, according to ANI.
6.21 pm: Delhi registers 3,229 coronavirus cases and 26 deaths on Monday, taking the city’s tally to 2,21,533, ANI reports. The toll rises to 4,770.
6.16 pm: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal says the Capital led by example and “showed the way to the world” on how to contain the coronavirus outbreak.
6.10 pm: Mumbai’s Dharavi locality registers 23 new coronavirus cases on Monday, taking the total number of infections reported from the area to 2,938, PTI reports.
6.05 pm: The Union health ministry on Monday inducted several AYUSH practices into the management protocol for patients who have recovered from Covid-19. In a statement, the AYUSH ministry said the protocol provides an “integrated holistic approach” for patients and is not meant to be used as preventive and curative therapy.
“The post-COVID follow-up protocol, on individual level, advises continued appropriate use of mask, hand and respiratory hygiene, physical distancing etc,” it added. “Adequate consumption of hot water and immunity promoting AYUSH medicine is advised after prescribed by a qualified practitioner of AYUSH.” The ministry also recommended mild and moderate exercises like yogasana, pranayama and meditation, along with morning and evening walks.
6.00 pm: Uttar Pradesh records 5,208 new coronavirus cases and 62 deaths on Monday, taking the state’s overall count to 3,17,195, and the toll to 4,491, PTI reports.
5.59 pm: Himachal Pradesh registers 41 new coronavirus cases on Monday, taking the state’s tally to 9,655, ANI reports.
5.55 pm: Tripura’s tally of coronavirus cases rises to 19,187, after 255 more people tested positive, PTI reports. The toll rises by six to 200.
5.47 pm: Scientists in Britain will conduct a small study comparing how two experimental coronavirus vaccines might work when they are inhaled by people instead of being injected, PTI reports. The trial, which will involve 30 participants, will be conducted by researchers of the Imperial College London, and Oxford University.
5.45 pm: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath directed officials on Monday to increase the number of beds in the Covid hospitals being run under the Health Department, PTI reports.
4.22 pm: Meenakshi Lekhi, Anant Kumar Hegde and Parvesh Sahib Singh are among those MPs who have contracted the disease, according to ANI.
4.17 pm: There are varying reports on the number of MPs who have tested positive. News18 reports 25 parliamentarians – 17 in Lok Sabha and nine in Rajya Sabha – have contracted the infection. Twenty four members of the Lok Sabha have tested positive for Covid-19, according to Hindustan Times.
3.23 pm: Seventeen members of Parliament have tested positive for the coronavirus, reports ANI. This includes BJP leaders Meenakshi Lekhi, Anant Kumar Hegde and Parvesh Sahib Singh.
3.15 pm: The Ministry of Tourism has informed Parliament that while no formal study has been conducted to assess the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the tourism sector, discussions with stakeholders have indicated that the sector has suffered a massive loss in revenue, reports PTI.
3.13 pm: Pakistan records 539 new cases of coronavirus, taking the total infections in the country to 3,02,020, reports PTI.
1.47 pm: Puducherry logs 414 new Covid-19 cases taking the overall tally past the 20,000 mark, PTI reports. Nine people succumb to the disease, taking the toll to 394.
1.41 pm: Himachal Pradesh records 43 new cases and 38 recoveries, ANI reports. This takes the total positive cases in the state to 9,598, including 3,367 active cases, 6,137 recoveries, and 77 deaths.
1.33 pm: S&P Global Ratings slashes its growth forecast for India to minus 9% in the current fiscal, from minus 5% projected earlier, PTI reports. It says rising coronavirus cases will keep private spending and investment lower for a longer period.
1.22 pm: Kolkata Metro has resumed its services after five months. “Services have resumed at 8 am and around 3,000 people have commuted in the first two hours,” Kolkata Metro Railway General Manager Manoj Joshi says. “The last trains from the originating stations on both sides will commence their journey at 7 pm and complete it by 8 pm.” All physical distancing protocols are being followed, he adds.
12 pm: India has been able to limit its cases and deaths per million (10 lakh) to 3,328 cases per million and 55 deaths per million population respectively, Harsh Vardhan says. This is the lowest in the world compared to similarly affected countries, he claims.
11.48 am: The health minister says India has been able to limit its coronavirus cases and deaths, adding that the rate is one of the lowest in the world when compared to countries with similar situations.
11.42 am: The Centre has urged states to ensure that there is no restriction imposed on the movement of medical oxygen between states and Union Territories and provision of “green corridor” for Liquid Medical Oxygen tankers within the cities, reports PTI.
11.40 am: Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, addressing the Parliament, says maximum coronavirus cases and deaths have been reported from Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, West Bengal, Bihar, Telangana, Odisha, Assam, Kerala and Gujarat. All these states reported more than 1 lakh cases, he adds.
9.52 am: India records 92,071 new coronavirus cases, taking the total to 48,46,428. With 1,136 deaths, the toll stands at 79,722. As many as 37,80,108 people have recovered from the infection.
9.48 am: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi again targets the Narendra Modi government, saying people of India have to “save their own lives because PM is busy with peacocks” amid a sharp rise in coronavirus cases.
Last month, a video was posted on the prime minister’s official social media accounts of him feeding peacocks.
“India’s coronavirus cases will cross 50 lakh this week and active cases will cross 10 lakh,” he tweets. “Unplanned lockdown was the gift of one man’s ego, which led to the spread of coronavirus across the country. Modi government said be self-reliant [atmanirbhar]...which meant “save your own lives” because the prime minister is busy with peacock.”
9.41 am: Kolkata Metro will resume its services today, more than five months after it was suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, reports The Hindu.
9.40 am: Mizoram records 14 new cases today, taking the tally to 1,428, according to ANI. Meanwhile, 830 people have recovered from the infection so far.
9.36 am: The entry of ex-MPs/MLCs/MLAs/personal secretaries/personal assistants/family members/personal guests and visitors accompanying MPs restricted inside the Parliament House till further orders due to the coronavirus crisis, reports ANI. The monsoon session of the Parliament started today with strict precautions against the coronavirus.
9.30 am: The World Health Organization reports a record rise in global coronavirus cases on Sunday with the total rising by 3,07,930 in 24 hours, according to Reuters. The biggest increases were from India, the United States and Brazil, according to the agency’s website. Deaths rose by 5,537 to a total of 9,17,417.
8.39 am: New Zealand set to lift coronavirus-induced restrictions in most of country on September 21, according to Reuters.
8.38 am: Singapore struggles to contain coronavirus cases among migrant workers’ in dormitories, reports Reuters.
8.37 am: Israel announces three-week nationwide lockdown from September 18 to contain the spread of the coronavirus after a second wave of infections, reports Reuters.
8.35 am: Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday attacked the state government over the coronavirus crisis. “Today in Maharashtra there are more than 10 lakh Covid-19 patients and our state accounts for 40% total deaths in the country,” he said, reported ANI.
8.32 am: The coronavirus tally in Odisha went up to 1,50,807 after 3,913 new cases on Sunday. Ten more deaths took the toll to 626, according to PTI.
8.15 am: United States President Donald Trump has claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded his administration for doing a great job in coronavirus testing, according to PTI.
8.08 am: Andhra Pradesh Police on Sunday filed a case against Bharatiya Janata Party leader Budda Srikanth Reddy for forcefully entering the sanctum sanctorum of Mahanadi Temple in Kurnool, reports ANI. Entry had been prohibited due to the pandemic.
8.05 am: Gyms and yoga institutes have been allowed to resume services from Monday under strict compliance of coronavirus norms, reports ANI.
8 am: Here are the top updates from Sunday:
- India’s coronavirus tally reached 47,54,356 on Sunday, after the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare reported a rise of 94,372 cases in 24 hours. The toll rose by 1,114 to 78,586. India now has 9,73,175 active cases, while 37,02,595 people have recovered. India’s recovery rate is currently 77.88%, while the mortality rate is 1.65%.
- Karnataka reported its biggest one-day rise of 9,894 cases, taking its tally to 4,59,445. The state’s toll rose by 104 to 7,265. Uttarakhand also reported a record 1,637 cases, which pushed its tally to 31,973. The state’s toll rose by 12 to 414.
- Union Home Minister Amit Shah was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi again for a complete medical checkup before the Parliament session. Shah had tested positive for the coronavirus last month.
- The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare released a new advisory for patients recovering from the coronavirus. The government advised them to look for signs like a drop in oxygen level or unexplained chest pain. It added that recovered patients may continue to report symptoms such as fatigue, body ache, cough, sore throat and difficulty in breathing.
- Former Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Raghuvansh Prasad Singh died of the coronavirus. He was 74. Singh was being treated for complications from the coronavirus in an intensive care unit of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi. His condition became serious on Saturday, following which he was put on a ventilator.
- The Delhi government directed 33 major private hospitals in the city to reserve 80% of their intensive care unit beds for coronavirus patients. The Capital is witnessing a surge in coronavirus cases.
- A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that face masks may accidentally be giving people immunity against the coronavirus. Experts said that masks could serve as a form of inoculation and slow the spread of the virus as the world waits for a vaccine.