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On Pfizer’s big announcement, India says in touch with all Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers
The health ministry’s comment came after US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer on Monday announced that its vaccine against coronavirus disease, which is jointly being developed with BioNTech SE, was more than 90 per cent effective based on Phase 3 trial.
The Union health ministry said on Tuesday India’s national expert group on the Covid-19 vaccine administration is in conversation with all vaccine manufacturers, including domestic and foreign. When asked if India was conducting discussions with Pfizer regarding its vaccine against Covid-19, the health ministry’s Rajesh Bhushan said, “The national expert group on Covid-19 vaccine administration is in dialogue with all vaccine manufacturers including domestic manufacturers and foreign manufacturers.”
Bhushan’s comment came after US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer on Monday announced that its vaccine against coronavirus disease, which is jointly being developed with BioNTech SE, was more than 90 per cent effective based on Phase 3 trial.
India’s Covid-19 tally on Tuesday crossed 8.59 million, according to the Union health ministry’s data. In the last 24 hours, India reported 38,073 new Covid-19 cases and 448 fresh fatalities, taking the death toll to 127,059.
The current Covid-19 tally stands at 8,591,730 in the country. India so far has lodged over 7.9 million recoveries from the coronavirus disease, the highest recovery count in the world, the health ministry further said.
“In India, recovered cases have crossed 79 lakhs, which is the highest in the world. On average, 51,476 cases have recovered daily in the last week,” said Rajesh Bhushan, secretary of the Union health ministry.
Meanwhile, India has so far conducted nearly 12 crore tests for Covid-19. “More than 11.96 crore Covid-19 tests conducted till now; more than 11 lakh tests conducted daily during last week. Daily positivity rate during last week recorded at 4.2 per cent,” the health ministry said.
“India’s Covid tests are the second-highest in the world. If we take the last two weeks figures, we’re testing more than any other country in the world. So, we should look at the brighter side of the current situation in testing,” the ministry added.
According to the data provided by the health ministry on Tuesday, 54 per cent of new Covid-19 cases reported in last 24 hours are from six states and Union territories, including Delhi, West Bengal, Kerala, Maharashtra.
