INDIA WILL BE IN POSITION TO VACCINATE ALL ADULTS BY YEAR END: CENTRE

The union Health minister, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said yesterday that 51 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses will be made available by July and 216 crore more between August and December.

He urged states to ensure that the healthcare and frontline workers are fully vaccinated, as they form the vulnerable categories.

Interacting with the health ministers and principal secretaries/ additional chief secretaries of West Bengal and eight northeast states, Vardhan said that  that by the end of the year, the country will be in a position to vaccinate at least all of its adult population, according to the health ministry statement.

West Bengal and the eight states of the North-eastern region are currently depicting a higher growth rate in the number of daily cases, high mortality and increasing positivity rate, the statement said.

Speaking of the government's efforts towards fighting coronavirus, Vardhan said that from having just one COVID testing laboratory at the start of the pandemic, there are over 2000 across the country now. "We have increased our capacity to test 25 lakh people daily. Yesterday (Tuesday), India achieved a historical first by testing the highest number of over 20 lakh people in a single day. This is a global record too," he was quoted as saying in the statement.

Underscoring the critical importance of vaccination drive, the minister highlighted that India has achieved another landmark by crossing 18 crore doses recently. He also pointed out that more than one crore doses are still in stock with the state governments.

KEY COVID NUMBERS

Current Active Cases Countrywide: 31,25,140

New Cases in last 24 hours: 2,76,219

Recovered in last 24 hours: 3,68,980

Change in no. of Active cases in last 24 hours: -96,641

No. of deaths in last 24 hours (Total Covid Deaths so far): 3,880 (2,87,156)

Daily Tests: 20,08,296

Daily Positivity Rate (Proportion of Positives among total Tested): 13.3%

Most Affected States:

(S. No. / State / No. of Active Cases / New Cases in last 24 Hrs / Deaths in Last 24 Hrs)

1          Karnataka                     5,58,890           /           ↑34,281 /           ↑468

2          Maharashtra     4,01,695           /           ↑34,031 /           ↑594

3          Kerala              3,31,864           /           ↑32,762 /           ↑112

4          Tamil Nadu       2,53,576           /           ↑34,875 /           ↑365

5          Andhra Pradesh            2,09,736           /           ↑23,160 /           ↑106

6          Rajasthan                     1,53,126           /           ↑9,849  /           ↑139

7          West Bengal     1,31,491           /           ↑19,006 /           ↑157

8          Uttar Pradesh   1,23,579           /           ↑7,186  /           ↑280

9          Odisha             95,339  /           ↑11,099 /           ↑21

10        Gujarat             92,617  /           ↑5,246  /           ↑71

11        Chhattisgarh     85,868  /           ↑5,680  /           ↑146

12        Madhya Pradesh           77,607  /           ↑5,065  /           ↑88

13        Uttarakhand      73,172  /           ↑4,492  /           ↑193

14        Haryana                       70,758  /           ↑6,818  /           ↑153

15        Punjab              70,499  /           ↑6,302  /           ↑208

16        Bihar                58,610  /           ↑6,059  /           ↑104

17        JnK                  50,494  /           ↑3,969  /           ↑62

18        Assam              48,390  /           ↑6,143  /           ↑89

19        Telangana                    46,946  /           ↑3,837  /           ↑25

20        Delhi                45,047  /           ↑3,846  /           ↑235

21        Himachal Pradesh         35,124  /           ↑3,396  /           ↑69

22        Jharkhand        28,841  /           ↑1,894  /           ↑53

23        Goa                  22,964  /           ↑1,209  /           ↑31

24        Puducherry       17,652  /           ↑1,759  /           ↑29

25        Manipur                        6,817    /           ↑582     /           ↑23

26        Chandigarh       6,570    /           ↑414     /           ↑9

27        Tripura             5,961    /           ↑879     /           ↑5

28        Meghalaya        5,769    /           ↑872     /           ↑24

29        Nagaland                      4,426    /           ↑244     /           ↑6

30        Sikkim              3,100    /           ↑272     /           ↑2

31        Arunachal Pradesh        2,585    /           ↑337     /           ↑2

32        Mizoram                       2,041    /           ↑184     /           ↑1

PM UNDERTAKES AERIAL SURVEY OF CYCLONE-HIT GUJARAT

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday announced Rs 2 lakh ex gratia for the next of kin of those who died in Cyclone Tauktae and Rs 50,000 for the injured, besides undertaking an aerial survey of the ravaged areas in Una, Jafrabad and Mahua across Gujarat and Diu.

He also spoke to senior officials and took stock of the operations being undertaken to rescue personnel on the sunken barge. The PM later chaired a meeting at Ahmedabad to review the relief and rehabilitation measures being undertaken in Gujarat and Diu. He announced financial assistance of Rs 1,000 crore for immediate relief activities to Gujarat. The Centre will soon deploy an inter-ministerial team to visit the state and assess the extent of damage based on which further assistance will be given.

CENTRE TO SET UP ‘BBC-LIKE’ CHANNEL TO PUSH INDIA VIEW

The national public broadcaster Prasar Bharati has floated a tender for a consultant to come up with a plan to launch a channel with an international presence. According to Prasar Bharati officials, the tender is not a knee-jerk reaction and the idea has existed for a long time.

The invitation for Expression of Interest was floated on May 13 for a consultancy service to come up with a detailed project report “on establishment of DD International”. The EOI stated: “In view of the strategic objective to build a global presence for Doordarshan and to establish an international voice for India, it is envisaged to establish DD International”. Further, it said that the EOI “is being issued for a Detailed Project Report (DPR) from reputed global consultants with experience in advising international broadcasters/media houses on projects of this nature”.

According to the tender, the objective is to “project India’s point of view globally on contemporary issues of both global and domestic significance” and to “tell the India Story to a global audience”. It also intends DD International to be the “authoritative global media source on India through credible, exhaustive and accurate global news service”.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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BIDEN TELLS NETANYAHU HE EXPECTS ‘SIGNIFICANT DE-ESCALATION TODAY’

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to continue fighting against Gaza militants after US President Joe Biden urged him to seek a “de-escalation” on Wednesday in the 10-day conflict on the path to a ceasefire. An Egyptian security source said the two sides had agreed in principle to a ceasefire after help from mediators, although details were still being negotiated in secret amid public denials of a deal to prevent it from collapsing.

Netanyahu has repeatedly hailed what he has described as support from the US, Israel’s main ally, for a right to self-defence in battling rocket attacks from Gaza. But Biden put the Israeli leader on notice in a telephone call that it was time to lower the intensity of the conflict. “The two leaders had a detailed discussion on the state of events in Gaza, Israel’s progress in degrading the capabilities of Hamas and other terrorist elements, and ongoing diplomatic efforts by regional governments and the US,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said. “The president conveyed to the prime minister that he expected a significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire.”

In a statement released soon after her comments, Netanyahu said: “I am determined to continue this operation until its objective is achieved — to restore quiet and security to you, the citizens of Israel.”

VACCINES STILL AHEAD OF COVID VARIANTS, SAY TOP SCIENTISTS

In the race between vaccines and coronavirus variants, the shots are still ahead of the curve, top US scientists are saying, notwithstanding reports of the variants causing fatalities in India even among those who have had two doses of vaccines.

Top US pandemic advisers maintained this week that vaccines currently being administered in the US — Pfizer-BioNtech and Moderna — are effective against the B.1.617 and the B.1.17 virus variants, amid urgent calls to ramp up Washington’s modest vaccine aid to India. “The modest neutralisation resistance to (B.1.) 617 antibodies suggests that current vaccines that we are all using that we’ve been speaking about would be at least partially and probably quite protective,” Dr Anthony Fauci, director of US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), told reporters during a news conference on Tuesday.

British researchers too have said the AstraZeneca vaccine (Covishield in India) is also effective against the variants. On Wednesday, UK PM Boris Johnson said latest data had been encouraging. “We have increasing confidence vaccines are effective against all variants, including the B.1.617 variant,” he told parliament.

The broad consensus in the scientific community appears to be that vaccine, while by no means a foolproof magic bullet, mitigates the suffering of Covid victims in the case of the virus breaking through.

THE REST

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CYCLONE TAUKTAE: 26 BODIES FOUND, SEARCH ON FOR 61

Naval ships and offshore vessels of the ONGC recovered 26 bodies Wednesday from the Arabian Sea where barge P305 working for ONGC sank following Cyclone Tauktae. Search continues for at least 61 more people who remain missing.

The missing include around 50 men onboard P305, and at least 11 on another vessel, tug boat Varaprada, which is missing, Navy officials said.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas announced a high-level inquiry into “lapses and gaps” in the system. It will probe the sequence of events leading to the ONGC support vessels left stranded by the cyclone, see whether warnings by the IMD and other statutory authorities were acted upon or not, and if the SOP for securing vessels and disaster management was followed.

"The navy's Search and Rescue (SAR) operations off Mumbai and Gujarat entered its third day yesterday. Warships INS Kochi, INS Kolkata, INS Beas, INS Betwa, INS Teg, P8I maritime surveillance aircraft, Chetak, ALH & Seaking helicopters are involved in the SAR operations.

All the 137 personnel on barge GAL Constructor were rescued on Tuesday by the Navy and Coast Guard. The 196 personnel on barge SS-3 and 101 personnel on board oil rig Sagar Bhushan are safe, the official said.

CBI WANTS NARADA CASE OUT OF W BENGAL

Bengal ministers Firhad Hakim and Subrata Mukherjee, and MLA Madan Mitra along with former mayor Sovan Chatterjee remained in custody for at least one more night as the Calcutta HC decided to take up their bail pleas in the Narada case and related issues for hearing on Thursday.

Argusing for the case to be shifted out of West Bengal, The CBI said that the presence of CM Mamata Banerjee and law minister Moloy Ghatak at its office and the court complex on Monday as a bid to “influence the probe”. SG Tushar Mehta said “a clear, cogent and forceful attempt” was made by the CM and other state functionaries “to overreach, impede and intimidate the judicial system and due process of law”.

Tushar Mehta submitted photos and other documents to support the CBI’s claim of Banerjee trying to intimidate the judicial system¥

Not so, said the defence, explaining that the act was to “extend support” to her cabinet colleagues.

WHY PM NOT SURVEYING CYCLONE-HIT MAHARASHTRA, ASKS NCP

The NCP, which is one of the constituents of the Maha Vikas Aghadi, on Wednesday wondered whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi's aerial survey of the cyclone-hit areas in Gujarat and Diu amounted to discrimination against Maharashtra which too was affected by the cyclonic storm.

Taking a dig, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said the PM was not conducting an aerial survey of the cyclone-hit areas in Maharashtra because he knew that the state is led by a strong chief minister unlike in his home state Gujarat.

BJP NAMES ‘TOOLKIT’ MAKER, CONG JUNKS CLAIM

The BJP continued its attack on the Congress over the alleged “toolkit to target PM Narendra Modi”. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra today presented what he termed as “proof/evidence” of the Congress’ “direct involvement” in the “toolkit”, authored by “Saumya Varma”, who, he claimed, was associated with Congress leader Rajeev Gowda.

Gowda, however, trashed the claim as “completely fake”. He said it was a research note on Central Vista for the party, which is “genuine and fact-based”.

Gowda said the section addressing the issues as regards the Central Vista project (titled ‘Central Vista Redevelopment: Vanity Project Amidst the Pandemic’) was made by the AICC’s Research Department. “This is a part of a larger six-page document. The BJP seems to have obtained it illegally and used it as a model to create a fake document, on forged letterhead,” Gowda said.

Meanwhile, the BJP also hit out at Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal over his remarks about the “new form of coronavirus in Singapore”. BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said the Delhi CM kept raising “hue and cry” over some or the other issue to escape questions over his “failure” in dealing with the pandemic. Bhatia also accused Kejriwal of “serious violation” of constitutional propriety by speaking on matters of foreign affairs.

2-DG HOLDS PROMISE BUT NEED MORE DATA BEFORE USE: EXPERTS

Top doctors in key Covid wards are guarded in their reception to the 2-DG (2-deoxy-D-Glucose) drug the Centre launched Monday granting emergency use approval and saying it will reduce recovery time and oxygen dependency for Covid-19 patients.

Their consensus is that the principle behind 2-DG, traditionally used as a cancer drug, is well-established. It inhibits glycolysis, the process by which cells break down glucose which helps viruses get energy to replicate and spread and so disrupting this could be a tool in the treatment of Covid-19. But, they said, they need more clinical trial evidence before it can be widely used.

Many experts have flagged concerns over the approval. Records show multiple attempts by DRL in 2020 to seek a speedy approval with truncated trials which were overruled by the Subject Experts Committee, the expert panel of the Indian drug regulator.

The SEC cited lack of sufficient evidence to greenlight such a clearance without adequate human testing. Following a Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trial, the regulator granted restricted permission for emergency use on May 1.

“As things stand, I will not be introducing it as part of treatment. There is many a slip between theoretical value and clinical outcome, and they haven’t shown any significant clinical outcomes. I would be happy if they would do a good Phase 3 clinical trial,” said Sumit Ray, head of critical care at Holy Family Hospital in New Delhi.

It’s paucity of data that experts point to.Flagging the lack of evidence to back claims that 2DG could reduce the need for supplemental oxygen, together with the “lack of transparency” in the approval process, Madhav Thambisetty, neurologist and Adjunct Professor of Neurology at Johns Hopkins, said that there were “serious concerns about scientific rigour yielding to expediency in decision-making that further exploits the growing desperation of patients and their families.”

HOSPITALS STAFF VACCINATION DATA UNDERLINES PROTECTION

As concern rises over reports of Covid-19 infection even in fully vaccinated people, a survey among healthcare workers at one of Delhi’s biggest hospitals has shown that fewer than three individuals out of every 100 who received both doses were infected by the coronavirus.

No Covid deaths were reported among those who had been vaccinated, the survey at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital found. The survey was, however, carried out for the period before April 15, when the bigger and deadlier national second wave of coronavirus infections began to develop fully.

Separately, data collated by Max Healthcare Network for its 14,000-odd employees around the country show that six out of every 100 fully vaccinated individuals have so far caught the virus — an infection rate more than double that reported by the Apollo survey.

The Max network, which has been logging information for its much bigger data set since the beginning of the vaccination programme on January 16, has so far recorded one death among those who had received both doses of the vaccine.

The observational study at Delhi’s Apollo Hospital was done during the first 100 days of the vaccination drive, during which Serum Institute of India’s Covishield — a version of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine — was administered to healthcare workers at the hospital.

The study covered 3,235 healthcare workers, of whom 2,481 had received both doses of the vaccine, and 754 had received one dose. A total 65 fully vaccinated individuals — 2.62% — and 20 partially vaccinated individuals — 2.65% — subsequently caught the infection.

“Females were significantly more affected and the age did not influence the incidence of infection,” Apollo Hospitals said in a press release.

Dr Anupam Sibal, Group Medical Director, Apollo Hospitals, said: “…There have been reports of infections after the vaccination, which are also known as ‘breakthrough infections’. These infections may occur after partial and full vaccination, in some individuals… Our study demonstrates that 97.38% of those vaccinated were protected from an infection and hospitalisation rate was only 0.06%… There were no ICU admissions or death.”

Dr Sandeep Budhiraja, Group Medical Director, Max Healthcare, underlined that 90% of those who were infected after full vaccination had only a mild infection. However, 10% of those who were infected in the Max data set required hospital admission, much more than in the Apollo survey.

GOVERNMENT TO WHATSAPP: ROLL BACK REVISED PRIVACY POLICY

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has again directed WhataApp to withdraw its much controversial revised privacy policy and has warned of action against the platform.

According to official sources, in its notice to the company, the ministry said there were various options available for the messaging platform under the Indian law. The government has told WhatsApp to respond by May 25.

The ministry said it was irresponsible for the platform to leverage its position in Indian market to impose unfair conditions.

ASIA CUP CALLED OFF DUE TO COVID CASES IN SRI LANKA

The 2021 Asia Cup, which was shifted from Pakistan to Sri Lanka, was on Wednesday called off due to rising COVID-19 cases in the island nation.

The Asia Cup, which was last held in 2018, was scheduled to be held in June but Sri Lanka Cricket CEO Ashley de Silva announced that it will be difficult for them to conduct the tournament.

The tournament was supposed to be hosted by Pakistan but since India were unlikely to travel there due to political tension between the two nations, it was shifted to Sri Lanka.

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

One person of integrity can make a difference.  - Elie Wiesel

OFF TRACK

Couples who have lived together a long time have their own way of communicating.

“What are you looking for in that closet?” the wife asked.

“Nothing,” he snapped.

“Well, it’s not in there. Look in the bedside drawer, it’s there,” said the wife.