# Boosters lag: India’s booster dose coverage in the 18 – 59 age group is just around 12 per cent; while in the 60 plus age group, it is around 35 per cent, a senior official of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare told BusinessLine.

# Friendly fire? As Moderna locks horns with Pfizer in an alleged patent infringement case involving their Covid-19 vaccine, experts see this as “friendly fire” that, in fact, illustrates their point that patents are about controlling technology, and not just rewarding the innovator.

# Covid spotlight on drugmakers: The Covid-19 pandemic may have put the spotlight on drugmakers and even helped their reputation. But there’s still work to be done on pricing and transparency, says United Kingdom-based PatientView, in its Asia survey on the corporate reputation of pharmaceutical companies.

# Absence of restrictions: Purchasing Managers’ Index for August dropped a little to 56.2 from 56.4 of July, showing second-strongest improvement in operating conditions since last November, says the article.

Pollyanna De Lima, Economics Associate Director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said that Indian manufacturers continued to benefit from the absence of Covid-19 restrictions, with growth rates for output and new orders picking up yet again to the strongest since last November. .

# Unemployment rate dips: The unemployment rate for persons aged 15 years and above in urban areas dipped to 7.6 per cent during April-June 2022 from 12.6 per cent a year ago, the National Statistical Office (NSO) said. Joblessness was high in April-June 2021, mainly due to the country’s staggering impact of Covid-related restrictions.

# On course: The Indian economy is on course for a 7-plus percent growth rate in the current fiscal year, finance secretary T V Somanathan said. Commenting on the first quarter GDP growth rate of 13.5 per cent, he said the economy is 4 per cent above pre-Covid levels, according to the article.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW