Bangladesh, Nepal & Sri Lanka have urged the Modi government to let commercial Covid vaccine shipments go through. Sri Lanka has reached out to China, Russia for vaccine doses.
Media reports alleging that the Centre has not placed any fresh order for Covid-19 vaccines are 'incorrect and not based on facts', the Union Health Ministry said.
Poonawalla made the announcement soon after he spoke out about pressures he was under over the production of Covid vaccines to meet India's ever-increasing demand amid shortages.
The 18-44 years age group would need 122 crore doses for full vaccination. Less than 3 cr healthcare, frontline workers & people above 45 years have been fully vaccinated so far.
The decision follows widespread criticism of SII's pricing policy as it has sold the initial doses of Covishield to the central government at Rs 150 per dose.
The researchers from King's College London in the UK also found that most systemic side effects peaked within the first 24 hours following vaccination and usually lasted 1-2 days.
Claiming Covisheld to be the most affordable Covid vaccine in the market, SII said the prices have changed now as the company has to invest in scaling up and expanding its capacity.
As Narendra Modi becomes India’s second-longest consecutively serving Prime Minister, we look at how he compares with Indira Gandhi across four key dimensions.
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