Coronavirus LIVE Updates: India Reports 8,439 Cases in 24 hours; Scientists Say ‘Stealth’ Version of Variant Harder to Track
Coronavirus LIVE Updates: Americans are lining up for booster doses of Covid-19 vaccines at a record pace, with concerns about the newly-detected Omicron coronavirus variant spurring millions to get shots, the U.S. government said on Tuesday.
In India, Serum Institute of India (SII) CEO Adar Poonawalla on Tuesday said the company is looking at slashing monthly production of vaccines by at least 50 per cent as there are not enough orders for Covishield from the central government. SII has written to the government to seek clarity on its requirement, if any, for normal two doses for eligible people in the country and also on booster doses.
“I am actually in a dilemma that I never imagined… we are producing 250 million doses a month but the good news is that India has covered up a large part of its population and we would have completed all our orders to the Ministry of Health in a week’s time,” Poonawalla said in an interview to CNBC-TV18.
Meanwhile, scientists say they have identified a “stealth” version of Omicron that cannot be distinguished from other variants using the PCR tests, a Guardian report said. This stealth version, first spotted among Covid virus genomes submitted in recent days from South Africa, Australia and Canada, lacks a particular genetic change that allows lab-based PCR tests to be used as a rough means of flagging up probable cases. The finding came as the number of cases of the original Omicron variant detected in the UK rose by 101 to 437 in a single day and Scotland announced a return to working from home.
India on Monday removed Bangladesh, ad added Ghana and Tanzania to the list of “at risk” countries, from where passengers have to follow additional Covid-19 testing and quarantine measures. The list now comprises countries in Europe, including the UK, and South Africa, Brazil, Botswana, China, Ghana, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Hong Kong, Singapore, Tanzania and Israel.
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