#Vaccines get expanded access: The Drug Controller General of India has given its conditional market authorisation to Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin and Serum Institute of India’s (SII) Covishield vaccine. With this approval, the hospitals and clinics will be able to directly procure from the vaccine manufacturers.
#Infection tally: With 2,51,209 people testing positive for the coronavirus infection in a day, India’s total tally of cases increased to over 4.06 crore, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Friday. The death toll has climbed to 4,92,327 with 627 fatalities reported during the 24-hour period, the data updated at 8 a.m. showed.
#High-risk mortality: Nearly 64 per cent of the Covid-19 deaths in Delhi occurred among unvaccinated and those with comorbid conditions, Dr SK Singh, Director at National Center for Disease Control said. He added that the unvaccinated and people with comorbid conditions form a very high-risk group at present.
#Self-test for Omicron: Roche Diagnostics has introduced its at-home Covid test kits in India. This comes at a time when the rapid spread of the Omicron variant has people isolating at home and testing themselves.
#TN relaxes restrictions: There will be no lockdown on Sunday (January 30) in Tamil Nadu. There will be no more night curfews in the State from Friday, the State government announced on Thursday. This relaxation comes as the number of new Covid cases has been on the decline in the last few days.
#Covid-19 challenges & the Budget: Two years of Covid-19 have deepened the dichotomy in India’s production networks, says an article that looks at the upcoming Budget.