New infections in India held near the lowest level since early April as the country ordered 300 million vaccine doses from local manufacturer Biological-E.
India added 134,154 new cases in a day, close to the lowest number since April 8, government data showed. The country’s death toll from the pandemic climbed by 2,887 to 337,989.
India ordered 300 million coronavirus vaccine doses from local manufacturer Biological-E as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government comes under pressure from the nation’s Supreme Court to cover more of the population.
An advance of 15 billion rupees ($205 million) will be paid to the Hyderabad-based company, the government said Thursday. Phase 3 trials are currently on and the firm will prepare the order between August and December.
Key developments:
Taiwan adds 583 local cases
Taiwan reported 364 newly confirmed domestic cases on Thursday and added 219 local infections to previous tallies due to test result delays. It’s too early to say whether Taiwan needs to further raise the Covid alert level, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said at a briefing.
Taiwan’s Cabinet earlier approved a plan for NT$260 billion ($9.4 billion) in Covid-19 relief measures, including about NT$58.4 billion for the economics ministry to distribute as subsidies for companies to cover salaries and operating costs.
Vietnam sees 120 million doses this year
Vietnam’s health ministry said the country will have more than 120 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines this year.
The total includes 5 million doses from Moderna Inc., 20 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine and 31 million doses of the vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, it said. Vietnam will also acquire 30 million AstraZeneca Plc vaccine doses and 38.9 million doses through the Covax initiative, the World Health Organization-backed effort to buy and distribute vaccines to low- and middle-income nations.
Bahrain gives different boosters
Bahrain started giving booster shots to vulnerable citizens who have been inoculated with Sinopharm vaccine using a different vaccine made by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE, Dow Jones reported, citing the country’s undersecretary of health Waleed Khalifa al Manea.
The country is fighting a sharp resurgence of Covid-19. More than 90 percent of those hospitalized in the latest wave haven’t been vaccinated.
Chinese drugmaker Sinopharm’s vaccine has accounted for more than 60 percent of Bahrain’s inoculations and was providing a high degree of protection, the report said. The government started offering the boosters at the end of May, according to the report.
Apple sets return to offices
Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said Wednesday employees should begin returning to offices in early September for at least three days a week.
The iPhone maker is pushing staff to return on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays at a minimum, with remote work still an option for Wednesdays and Fridays, Cook said in a memo obtained by Bloomberg News.
US vaccine donation plan imminent
The White House has settled on a plan and is set to announce which countries will receive the first vaccine donations from the US. The Biden administration hopes the move will help fend off risks of more coronavirus variants emerging in countries with limited access to vaccines, people familiar with the matter said.
Brazil expects fewer shots, Globo says
Brazil’s Health Ministry said it expects to receive 39.8 million doses of vaccines in June, 3.9 million fewer than it had forecast, O Globo reported, without saying how it got the information.
Until last week, the federal government expected to receive about 43.8 million vaccines in June.
The estimated delivery of CoronaVac fell to 5 million doses from 6 million previously, while the forecast for AstraZeneca/Oxford shots was reduced to 18 million from 20.9 million.
NJ to close vaccine mega-sites as demand wanes
New Jersey will close all six of its vaccine mega-sites by July 23 as demand wanes and the state nears its goal of immunizing 70 percent of residents. “We’re localizing and this is yet another step in that direction,” Governor Phil Murphy said at a streaming virus update. Health officials now will encourage vaccine seekers to make arrangements at any of almost 1,800 sites, including pharmacies, retailers and community medical centers.
The mega-sites at their height were processing 400 or more recipients per hour on an appointments-only basis, for almost 1 million people in all. Each now takes walk-ins. New Jersey, with 9.2 million residents, intends to fully vaccinate 4.7 million people by June 30. The state is at 90 percent of that goal.
NYC plans in-school vaccinations
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city would launch in-school vaccination sites in partnership with the United Federation of Teachers, the city’s largest teachers union, starting on Friday. The program will begin with four schools in the Bronx and expand to all five boroughs in the next few weeks.
New York is outpacing the nation in vaccinating young people, de Blasio said at a briefing Wednesday. Nearly 120,000 kids in New York City age 12-17 have been vaccinated, or about 23 percent of the population, which surpasses the national average of 22 percent, he said.
1 comment
The world is again mystified by the dramatic fall in the Indian COVID cases from 410,000 (30 days ago) to 150,000 today.
This is again a Modi Miracle Concoction,of Lies,Perfidy and Cow Piss Cola.
What is the Miracle here ?
Step 1 – The COVID is in the villages and small towns – where there are no Tests or no Testing Infra.That lowers the effective target area of infections – and thus the COVID COUNT.
Step 2 – The places of HIGH COVID concentration are ALL UNDER LOCKDOWNS.In a Lockdown,there are no congregations,and so, the testing target population is reduced,and so,the number of cases,also reduce
Step 3 – INCREASED testing in LOW COVID areas,so that the positivity rate,for the NATION AS A WHOLE,is lowered sharply
Step 4 – Create a fear psychosis,so that the dead in small towns and villages are dumped in the rivers – as the COVID dead,DO NOT get a cremation – AND THAT REDUCES THE COVID DEAD ratio and the absolute count.
Step 5 – PRAY TO THE COVID VIRUS ,and it is working ! COVID is NOT BEING DETECTED in the RTPCR – and that lowers the Daily case count.
Bingo !
The Indian VAXES are a disaster,and will peter out soon ! Indians will NOT take the VAXES !
And then,the lockdown will be lifted – and then,the 3 rd wave will COME IN ! dindooohindoo
Anyone remember the word “OXYGEN”.Some one in India has made USD 5O Million in 30 days.