As India records 15k fresh Covid cases, Bharat Biotech gets a shot in the arm

After 15,388 new cases of Covid-19 were recorded in India in a day, the total tally of cases in the country went up to 1,12,44,786. The death toll increased to 1,57,930 with 77 new fatalities.

The active caseload stands at 1,87,462 which now comprises 1.67 percent of the total infections. The recovery rate has also increased to 96.93 percent, as the nationwide vaccination drive continues with its second phase.

Meanwhile, after mid-stage trials, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin has shown itself to be safe and immunogenic. The vaccine has reportedly shown high levels of antibody response, according to a peer-reviewed study.

Covaxin is India’s first successful indigenous Covid vaccine, which has attracted interest from more than 40 countries. The peer-reviewed study is a positive for Bharat Biotech, which had drawn criticism in January after the Indian government approved Covaxin for emergency use without any efficacy data.

The company said last week that it had shown 81% efficacy in preventing symptomatic Covid-19, based on interim analysis of late-stage trials.

Government data has reported that less than 9% of the more than 18.2 million Indians vaccinated so far were given Covaxin as of Tuesday. Several politicians, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also chose to receive shots of Covaxin.

The study, published in medical journal Lancet on Monday, stated that the double-dose vaccine showed significantly higher neutralizing antibody responses in Phase II than in Phase I due to the difference in dosing regimens that changed to a 4-week apart injection schedule from a 2-week course.

However, it said that follow-on studies are required to establish immunogenicity in children and older people as the Phase II trial, which had 380 participants, included a small number of people aged 12–18 years and 55–65 years.

It also said that while the trial included participants from across nine Indian states, the study population lacked ethnic and gender diversity, “underscoring the importance of evaluating BBV152 (the vaccine) in other populations”. For example, female participants accounted for just a quarter of the subjects.

Bharat Biotech said last week that its Phase III study will involve 25,800 participants aged 18-98 and more than 2,400 individuals over the age of 60.

India aims to vaccinate 300 million of its 1.35 billion people by August. The country still has the highest number of cases in the world, second only to the United States.

Maharashtra, one of the worst-hit states in India, reported a drop in infections with 9,927 new coronavirus cases and 56 deaths. The number of total cases and deaths is 22,38,398 and 52,556, respectively. The recovery toll in the state stands at 20,89,294 with 12,182 discharges in the last 24 hours. Active cases remain at 95,382. 

Delhi reported 320 new Covid-19 cases, 234 recoveries and four deaths in the last 24 hours. The total infection tally in the capital reached 6,41,660. 6,28,920 people have been discharged so far in the city. The fatality toll rose to 10,928 while 1,812 active cases remain.

The Covid-19 tally of Gujarat touched 2,74,522 after 581 people were detected with the infection on Tuesday. Surat accounted for 147 of the day’s cases. 453 people were discharged while a death each was reported in Ahmedabad and Vadodara, taking the recovery count to 2,66,766 and the death toll to 4,418.

Odisha’s Covid-19 tally mounted to 3,37,860 on Tuesday as 57 more people tested positive for the infection. The state’s coronavirus death toll remained unchanged at 1,917 as no new fatality was reported.

West Bengal’s Covid-19 tally rose to 5,76,838 as 215 more people tested positive for the virus while two fresh fatalities pushed the coronavirus death toll to 10,280 on Monday. The two new deaths were reported from North 24 Parganas and Howrah districts. The state now has 3,155 active Covid-19 cases, while 5,63,403 people have recovered from the disease. The Covid-19 recovery rate in the state is 97.66 per cent.

Arunachal Pradesh did not report any new cases in the last three days. The north-eastern state’s Covid tally stands at 16,839, of which three are active cases, while 16,780 people have recovered from the disease and 56 patients have succumbed to the infection so far.

26 fresh Covid-19 cases in the Union Territory of Puducherry on Tuesday took the tally to 39,908, while fatalities remained at 670 with no deaths being reported.

WITH AGENCY INPUTS