Since several months, @BharatBiotech has been in advanced negotiations with ten countries that have expressed interest in their vaccine. Some of the efforts seem to now be fructifying into deals. Short thread.
Last month, envoys of over 64 countries visited the Bharat Biotech facility at Hyderabad.
Brazil’s private clinics are already seeking permission for purchase of five million doses of the vaccine.
Ecuador’s ambassador to India also lined up to volunteer for the Covaxin trial, which is too much of a coincidence.
This interview of CMD of Bharat Biotech is worth reading. Presence in over 120 countries, trials being done in a dozen countries. cnbctv18.com/healthcare/cov…
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Why is Mr Poonawala thanking Gates Foundation? No, this isn’t a conspiracy theory. 🙂
A sizeable grant from Gates Foundation ensures that SSI, a key supplier of low cost vaccines across the world, doesn’t go bankrupt if the vaccine fails in trials. Short thread.
Bill Gates Foundation has been working with SSI since several years. The foundation has periodically given grants to SSI for supply of millions of doses of vaccine at very low cost.
Initial grant of 150 million USD to SSI for producing COVID vaccine was increased to 300 million USD for a total procurement of 20 crore doses of the vaccine at USD 3.00 each. moneycontrol.com/news/business/…
Disgusting letter by IMA HQ, invoking purity and turf as defence. What face will IMA have if Ayurvedic surgeons file a case against Modern Medicine practitioners for using surgical instruments and doing anal procedures and plastic surgery flaps described in Sushruta Samhita?
To be sure, there are serious problems associated with handing out MS and MD Degrees by substandard and fraudulent AYUSH medical colleges without giving any actual training in those fields. But IMA’s approach to this serious problem is disgustingly condescending and nauseating.
The late Dr RD Bapat, head of surgery department KEM Hospital Mumbai, made ksharsutra mainstream in general surgery for management of difficult fistula in ano. Proctologists of “modern medicine” do not even perform the courtesy of using its original name. They call it “seton”.
Congress claims UIP was started by Rajiv Gandhi. Whereas it was actually started by the Morarji Desai government in 1978. Rajiv Gandhi govt renamed it in 1985 and declared its expansion pan India. But from 1985 to 2005, number of vaccinated children increased by just 2%.
The percentage of fully vaccinated children limped along from 44% in 2005-06 to just under 65% in 2014.
Finally in Dec 2014 it was taken into the fast lane with Mission Indradhanush: Immunisation of 100% children by 2020 is now within striking distance. deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/heal…
Under Mission Indradhanush, the percentage of vaccinated children is improving at 6.5% per year. By 2018, in just three years it had sharply improved with govt systematically focusing on worst affected districts. In 2019-end an even more intensive Indradhanush 2.0 was launched.
Short thread on the Chinese vaccine for COVID19. An irresponsible govt starts vaccinating it’s own people without adequate proof of either safety or efficacy, bypassing phase 3 trials. Then finds out it isn’t generating an adequate response. But the problems are much deeper.
The CanSino COVID vaccine uses the common cold vaccine as vector. But over half the people given the vaccine already had antibodies to common cold virus and hence it is virtually doomed to failure. A second dose won’t solve this.
CanSino has decided to brazen it out by claiming that “we should not blindly follow experts” and that “It is unscientific to compare the antibody levels generated by different vaccine candidates, because varied testing methods could distort results”. aljazeera.com/ajimpact/china…
This is the state of affairs at Vaishnodevi, one of the better managed shrine boards. There is absolutely no doubt that things have become a lot better for pilgrims after shrine board was established. I was in Katra waiting for Darshan with my family when this happened. 1/n
The average pilgrim waiting for Darshan welcomed it. Pandas went on strike in protest. So a few Brahmins from the security were dressed up as pandas and the Darshan was resumed. Have been to Vaishnodevi several times before and after the takeover. Things have only improved. 2/n
Why did people not object? Because pandas would hold up Darshan for hours for private pujas, keeping others waiting out. Facilities were non existent. The climb was downright dangerous with a death or two every day due to people falling off the narrow broken road. 3/n
The reason is utter miscommunication. Short thread. 1. Many parents who didn’t take admission in 1st list waiting for higher choice admission didn’t know the 2nd and 3rd list was only for quota students. Only place one could know this was by watching the video on board site.
2. Online confirmation of allotment on govt portal should have led to the college website for fee payment but this linkage was missing.
3. Parents were not informed that if the fees were not paid to the college by 5PM on 3rd September, the admission would be canceled. I am speaking as a parent who barely managed to complete admission a few minutes before the deadline for my own daughters admission.