The Evening Wrap: Govt nod to two more vaccines and an anti-viral drug to combat COVID-19

Two more vaccines will join India’s arsenal in combating COVID following their approval for emergency use authorisation. Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted about the nod given to the two vaccines as well as an antiviral drug, Molnupiravir. Currently, India uses Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik V in its vaccination programme. Corbevax to be made by Hyderabad-based Biological-E is a protein sub-unit vaccine and is co-developed by Biological E, Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, United States, and American company Dynavax Technologies; Covovax, will be manufactured by Serum Institute of India, Pune, under licence from Novavax, a U.S.-based biotechnology company. Covovax has been approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) under its Emergency Use Listing and, therefore, will also be available globally as part of the COVAX initiative to ensure that at least 40% of world is vaccinated on priority. Molnupiravir is said to be a promising drug for those with mild and moderate disease and also easily administered as a pill. Thirteen companies in India are set to manufacture this drug. It has been approved under emergency use authorisation for treating adults with COVID-19 “who have high risk of progression to disease”. Cipla, one of the licensee, said in a statement that it planned to launch Molnupiravir under the brand name Cipmolnu. Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement last week that from January 3 those aged 15-17 would be eligible for Covaxin, heathcare workers, frontline workers and those above 60 with comorbidities who have already got two shots will be eligible for a third dose from January 10. There are no studies so far to show how effective the new vaccines will be in giving protection against symptomatic infection when employed as a third dose though the WHO's general observation is that same or mixed vaccine regimens “improve immunological response” are better protective against disease and death. In June the Centre had said that it had “reserved” 30 crore doses of Corbevax. Though early trials had shown the vaccine to be safe and capable of eliciting an immune reaction, no results are yet available on its efficacy. In June, results from a Phase 3 clinical trial of Novavax enrolling 29,960 adult volunteers in the U.S. and Mexico showed that the vaccine demonstrated 90.4% efficacy in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 disease. It also showed 100% protection against moderate and severe disease. Delhi issues yellow alert restrictions on gatherings following rise in COVID-19 cases Amid rise in COVID-19 cases, Delhi on Monday recorded 331 fresh COVID-19 cases, the highest single-day rise since June 9, and one death while the positivity rate mounted to 0.68%, according to data shared by the city health department, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Tuesday ordered closure of schools, colleges, cinemas and gyms with immediate effect and put various restrictions on the functioning of shops and public transport as a yellow alert was sounded under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). After a high-level meeting to review the pandemic situation in the national capital, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said earlier in the day that a decision has been taken to issue ‘yellow’ alert in view of fast rising cases of infections. The ‘yellow’ alert restrictions stipulate that shops and establishments of non-essential goods and services and malls will open based on odd-even formula from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The timing of night curfew imposed from Monday night has also been extended by an hour and it will now begin at 10 pm. The night curfew from 10 pm to 5 am will remain in force till further orders, stated the order issued by the DDMA. Marriages and funerals will be allowed attendance of 20 persons while all other types of gathering related to social, political, cultural, religious and festival events will be prohibited. The Delhi Metro will run at 50 per cent of its seating capacity while auto-rickshaws and cabs can ferry up to two passengers. Buses too will operate at 50% capacity, says the GRAP. The DDMA order stated that all the restrictions as per ‘yellow’ alert will be enforced with immediate effect. The GRAP approved by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) prescribes sounding of ‘yellow’ alert if positivity rate remains above 0.5% for two consecutive days. The ‘yellow’ alert restrictions stipulate that only one weekly market per zone with 50% vendors will be allowed to open. Restaurants will be permitted with 50% capacity from 8 am to 10 pm while bars can also operate with the same capacity, but from 12 noon to 10 pm. Besides, cinema halls, banquet halls, spas, gyms, outdoor yoga activity, amusement parks, stadia, swimming pools, schools, colleges and educational institutions will not be allowed if ‘yellow’ alert is sounded. Private offices can function with up to 50 per cent of the staff. In Delhi government offices also, barring certain category of officials, only half of the remaining staff will be allowed under the ‘yellow’ alert. Further religious places will open but visitors will not be allowed. Parks and gardens can however open. Karnataka has also imposed night curfew following rise in cases for 10 days. Minister urges protesting doctors to call off strike Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday held a meeting with a delegation of protesting doctors and urged them to call off their strike. The resident doctors are protesting the government’s delay on NEET PG counselling. Following the meeting with the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA), the Minister said all requisite steps are being taken by the government and a suitable reply with respect to the EWS report will be submitted to Supreme Court before the scheduled date of hearing on January 6. “We are not able to do the counselling because the matter is sub judice before the Supreme Court. The government of India will submit a reply to the apex court before the scheduled date of hearing on January 6. We request the court to expedite the issue so that the counselling can be started at the earliest," he noted. Mr Mandaviya also expressed gratitude to the resident doctors and health care workers over the exemplary work done by them during the Covid crisis. Intensifying their stir over the delay in NEET-PG 2021 counselling, a large number of resident doctors on Tuesday protested on the premises of Centre-run Safdarjung Hospital, even as police personnel were deployed to ensure maintenance of law and order. Earlier in the day, as the doctors marched towards the Supreme Court, there was a faceoff with police personnel following which both sides claimed unwarranted attacks and injuries sustained in the ensuing melee. Three accused for hate speeches may not face imminent arrest The three accused in the First Information Report for their hate speeches against minorities at a religious event in Haridwar between December 17 and 19 may not face imminent arrest owing to several Supreme Court orders and observation that bar the police from arrest where the maximum possible sentence for an offence is seven years or less, a senior Uttarakhand government official said, our correspondent reports. At the event, calls were made for genocide and violence against Muslims. After the video clips of the event went viral on social media, the Haridwar police on December 23 registered a case under Section 153A (a and b) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), entailing a maximum punishment of five years. Based on a complaint received by a local initially only one person- former chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Shia Central Waqf Board Wasim Rizvi, who became Jitendra Narayan Tyagi, was named in the FIR. But on December 26, the names of Annapurna Maa alias Pooja Shakun Pandey, ‘Mahamandleshwar’ of Niranjini Akhada and general secretary of the Hindu Mahasabha; and Dharamdas Maharaj, a resident of Bihar, were added to the FIR. No arrests have been made in the case so far. On August 20, a Supreme Court Bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Hrishikesh Roy said, “Merely because an arrest can be made because it is lawful does not mandate that arrest must be made.” As reported earlier, whether the provisions of the UAPA could be added to the existing case was being legally examined and the police are also exploring if a case under Section 124 A of the IPC (sedition) can be invoked in the case or not. Though the Uttarakhand police have been treading cautiously on making arrests, there have been several instances when the police have not followed the apex court guidelines. In January last, comedian Munawar Faruqui was arrested in Indore for allegedly hurting religious sentiments. Though the IPC sections he was booked under prescribe a jail term of up to only two years, he was arrested and spent over a month in jail before being granted bail by the top court on February 5. Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 3,48,02,273 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 4,80,240. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 28 DECEMBER 2021 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( Government nod to two more vaccines and an anti-viral drug to combat COVID-19 Two more vaccines will join India’s arsenal in combating COVID following their approval for emergency use authorisation. Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted about [the nod given to the two vaccines as well as an antiviral drug, Molnupiravir](. Currently, India uses Covishield, Covaxin and Sputnik V in its vaccination programme. Corbevax to be made by Hyderabad-based Biological-E is a protein sub-unit vaccine and is co-developed by Biological E, Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, United States, and American company Dynavax Technologies; Covovax, will be manufactured by Serum Institute of India, Pune, under licence from Novavax, a U.S.-based biotechnology company. Covovax has been approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) under its Emergency Use Listing and, therefore, will also be available globally as part of the COVAX initiative to ensure that at least 40% of world is vaccinated on priority. [Illustration: R. Rajesh]  Molnupiravir is said to be a promising drug for those with mild and moderate disease and also easily administered as a pill. Thirteen companies in India are set to manufacture this drug. It has been approved under emergency use authorisation for treating adults with COVID-19 “who have high risk of progression to disease”. Cipla, one of the licensee, said in a statement that it planned to launch Molnupiravir under the brand name Cipmolnu. Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement last week that from January 3 those aged 15-17 would be eligible for Covaxin, heathcare workers, frontline workers and those above 60 with comorbidities who have already got two shots will be eligible for a third dose from January 10. There are no studies so far to show how effective the new vaccines will be in giving protection against symptomatic infection when employed as a third dose though the WHO's general observation is that same or mixed vaccine regimens “improve immunological response” are better protective against disease and death. In June the Centre had said that it had “reserved” 30 crore doses of Corbevax. Though early trials had shown the vaccine to be safe and capable of eliciting an immune reaction, no results are yet available on its efficacy. In June, results from a Phase 3 clinical trial of Novavax enrolling 29,960 adult volunteers in the U.S. and Mexico showed that the vaccine demonstrated 90.4% efficacy in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 disease. It also showed 100% protection against moderate and severe disease. [underlineimg] Delhi issues yellow alert restrictions on gatherings following rise in COVID-19 cases Amid rise in COVID-19 cases, Delhi on Monday recorded 331 fresh COVID-19 cases, the highest single-day rise since June 9, and one death while the positivity rate mounted to 0.68%, according to data shared by the city health department, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Tuesday ordered closure of schools, colleges, cinemas and gyms with immediate effect and put various restrictions on the functioning of shops and public transport as [a yellow alert was sounded under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP)](. After a high-level meeting to review the pandemic situation in the national capital, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said earlier in the day that a decision has been taken to issue ‘yellow’ alert in view of fast rising cases of infections. The ‘yellow’ alert restrictions stipulate that shops and establishments of non-essential goods and services and malls will open based on odd-even formula from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The timing of night curfew imposed from Monday night has also been extended by an hour and it will now begin at 10 pm. The night curfew from 10 pm to 5 am will remain in force till further orders, stated the order issued by the DDMA. [A medic collects swab sample of a man for RT-PCR test in New Delhi. File]  Marriages and funerals will be allowed attendance of 20 persons while all other types of gathering related to social, political, cultural, religious and festival events will be prohibited.  The Delhi Metro will run at 50 per cent of its seating capacity while auto-rickshaws and cabs can ferry up to two passengers. Buses too will operate at 50% capacity, says the GRAP. The DDMA order stated that all the restrictions as per ‘yellow’ alert will be enforced with immediate effect. The GRAP approved by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) prescribes sounding of ‘yellow’ alert if positivity rate remains above 0.5% for two consecutive days. The ‘yellow’ alert restrictions stipulate that only one weekly market per zone with 50% vendors will be allowed to open. Restaurants will be permitted with 50% capacity from 8 am to 10 pm while bars can also operate with the same capacity, but from 12 noon to 10 pm. Besides, cinema halls, banquet halls, spas, gyms, outdoor yoga activity, amusement parks, stadia, swimming pools, schools, colleges and educational institutions will not be allowed if ‘yellow’ alert is sounded. Private offices can function with up to 50 per cent of the staff. In Delhi government offices also, barring certain category of officials, only half of the remaining staff will be allowed under the ‘yellow’ alert. Further religious places will open but visitors will not be allowed. Parks and gardens can however open. Karnataka has also imposed night curfew following rise in cases for 10 days. [underlineimg] Minister urges protesting doctors to call off strike Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Tuesday held a meeting with a delegation of protesting doctors and urged them to call off their strike. The resident doctors are protesting  the government’s delay on NEET PG counselling. Following the meeting with the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA), the Minister said all requisite steps are being taken by the government and a suitable reply with respect to the EWS report will be submitted to Supreme Court before the scheduled date of hearing on January 6. “We are not able to do the counselling because the matter is sub judice before the Supreme Court. The government of India will submit a reply to the apex court before the scheduled date of hearing on January 6. We request the court to expedite the issue so that the counselling can be started at the earliest," he noted. Mr Mandaviya also expressed gratitude to the resident doctors and health care workers over the exemplary work done by them during the Covid crisis. Intensifying their stir over the delay in NEET-PG 2021 counselling, a large number of resident doctors on Tuesday protested on the premises of Centre-run Safdarjung Hospital, even as police personnel were deployed to ensure maintenance of law and order. Earlier in the day, as the doctors marched towards the Supreme Court, there was a faceoff with police personnel following which both sides claimed unwarranted attacks and injuries sustained in the ensuing melee. [underlineimg] Three accused for hate speeches may not face imminent arrest The three accused in the First Information Report for their [hate speeches against minorities at a religious event in Haridwar]( between December 17 and 19 [may not face imminent arrest owing to several Supreme Court orders]( and observation that bar the police from arrest where the maximum possible sentence for an offence is seven years or less, a senior Uttarakhand government official said, our correspondent reports. At the event, calls were made for genocide and violence against Muslims. After the video clips of the event went viral on social media, the Haridwar police on December 23 registered a case under Section 153A (a and b) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion), entailing a maximum punishment of five years. Based on a complaint received by a local initially only one person- former chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Shia Central Waqf Board Wasim Rizvi, who became Jitendra Narayan Tyagi, was named in the FIR. But on December 26, the names of Annapurna Maa alias Pooja Shakun Pandey, ‘Mahamandleshwar’ of Niranjini Akhada and general secretary of the Hindu Mahasabha; and Dharamdas Maharaj, a resident of Bihar, were added to the FIR. No arrests have been made in the case so far. On August 20, a Supreme Court Bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Hrishikesh Roy said, “Merely because an arrest can be made because it is lawful does not mandate that arrest must be made.” As reported earlier, whether the provisions of the UAPA could be added to the existing case was being legally examined and the police are also exploring if a case under Section 124 A of the IPC (sedition) can be invoked in the case or not. Though the Uttarakhand police have been treading cautiously on making arrests, there have been several instances when the police have not followed the apex court guidelines. In January last, comedian Munawar Faruqui was arrested in Indore for allegedly hurting religious sentiments. Though the IPC sections he was booked under prescribe a jail term of up to only two years, he was arrested and spent over a month in jail before being granted bail by the top court on February 5. [underlineimg] Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments The [number of reported coronavirus cases from India]( stood at 3,48,02,273 at the time of publishing this newsletter, with the death toll at 4,80,240. 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