COVID-19

Wasn't this v obvious from day one, that it requires a special mention. Why not talk of solutions!!!

Yar koi desh India ki madad karne agey nahi aa raha, kya baat hai?

pillaicha said:

That’s what I mean by state sponsored cronyism.

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So, who do you think should have manufactured the vaccine(s) for 300 million people by Aug '21? The slow-as-molasses MH Govt owned Haffkine Institute only to avoid getting tagged as a case "crony capitalism"? Can they even accomplish this at short notice? No, because this report says they will be able to produce Covaxin in 12 months. Fat lot of good it would do for this country!

Also, is Sputnik as cheap to import and/or produce as Covaxin and Covishield? Can a foreign manufactured vaccine be cheaper than a locally produced one? Let us wait and see what Sputnik sells for here compared to the Indian vaccines.

According to this article initial doses of the vax will be imported by Dr Reddy's Lab and production will start "after some time". According to the report, Hetero Biopharma, Gland Pharma, Stelis Biopharma, Panacea Biotec, Virchow Biotech and Shilpa Medicare will be contracted by the RDIF to produce the vaccine catering to what they believe will be about 70-80% of worldwide demand. Guess that smacks of crony capitalism too, right?

We can criticize the Govt, in fact any Govt endlessly. Mistakes have been made no doubt and it's been a big learning process for ALL countries and Governments. Those who had the financial wherewithal and appetite for risk went ahead and booked doses by the millions. Which is why now they have ringfenced supplies in Europe and US leaving several countries in the lurch. I am happy we are producing locally. Otherwise It would have opened another round of criticism from opposition "socialist" policitians and the public had the Indian Govt not paid heed to the biggest and one of the most reputed manufacturers of vaccines in our own backyard. The simple fact of the matter is you cannot make everybody happy. That's life.

I think this pandemic is going to resonate a lot in the coming years, I hope people learn from this and put necessary changes in the system

And here we go again. With politicians redefining new lows in accusations and counter accusations - Haryana Minister Anil Vij accuses Delhi govt of ‘stealing’ oxygen from tanker on way to Faridabad hospitals

Pathetic!

Any way I can get my domestic help tested for covid? He is Nepalese and doesn't have an Indian Adhaar card nor a Nepalese passport.

Faced same problem few weeks ago. Dad had to use a contact to get it done. Would be much more difficult today coz demand for tests is much higher.

Does anyone know when this will peak or is it already achieved ? Some people are saying May 1st and 2nd week will peak and then lower down

this was shared online as a good source for projections.

Chip said:

is Sputnik as cheap to import and/or produce as Covaxin and Covishield?

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As per this article, it translates to ₹730, for imported. Locally manufactured price, no word yet.

the manufacturers of the one-dose Sputnik vaccine said in a statement back in November that the cost of its vaccine “for international markets will be less than $10 per dose starting from February 2021”.

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Covishield to cost ₹600 for procurement by private. Maybe to be sold at ₹700-800. Maybe hospitals will give a combined discount of ₹1400 if you take both shots from the same hospital.

Vaccine efficacy, based on the numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases from 21 days after the first dose of vaccine, is reported as 91·6% (95% CI 85·6–95·2), and the suggested lessening of disease severity after one dose is particularly encouraging for current dose-sparing strategies.

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Sputnik has produced acceptable (I wouldn’t say better or worse becuase it’s a statistical conclusion) results after only the first dose. Read here. The significance of this finding is it would have really helped us flatten this curve and continue our vaccination drive while we built/ramped up domestic production capabilities. I’m up for local and go national initiatives, but won’t prioritise it over people’s lives lost.

Navjot Singh said:

Because SII has gotten 3k crores from the government.

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The govt is giving this money as advance payment for 2 months of vaccine supply. They are not giving any chanda. Plus it has not reached SII and they have already borrowed money from the bank. Adar is more trustable than the govt in this scenario.

Source

Dr. V K. Paul wants to know Dr. Krishna Ella's location..

Not understanding what the ECI is planning to do. System is breaking down, people are dying but why cannot they club the election phases. These are not normal times.