09/08/2023

FELUDA paper strip test for COVID-19 to be rolled out in India soon.

India will soon roll out the FELUDA paper strip test for SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis, according to the Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan. The Minister said that the test showed 96% sensitivity and 98% specificity compared to ICMRs current acceptation criteria of RT-PCR Kit of at least 95% sensitivity and at least 99% specificity.
The Minister added that India is looking at the availability of several different types of vaccines, of which some may be suitable for a particular age group while others may not be.
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Here are the latest updates:
Vaccines currently in trial in India are 2-dose and 3-dose vaccines: Health Minister
Speaking about COVID-19 vaccine in his weekly social media interaction Sunday Samvaad, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said it is anticipated that supplies would initially be available in limited quantities.
The Minister added that India is looking at the availability of several different types of vaccines, of which some may be suitable for a particular age group while others may not be.
He informed that the COVID-19 vaccines currently in trial in India are 2-dose and 3-dose vaccines. Vaccine by Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech require 2 doses while the Cadila Healthcare vaccine requires 3 doses. For other vaccines in pre-clinical stages, the dosing is being tested, he stated.
On the need to include other novel candidates as COVID vaccine, Dr. Vardhan said, Considering the large population size of India, one vaccine or vaccine manufacturer will not be able to fulfil the requirements of vaccinating the whole country. Therefore, we are open to assessing the feasibility of introducing several COVID-19 vaccines in the country as per their availability for the Indian population.
 Supreme Court to work with full strength from October 12
The Supreme Court will work with its pre-pandemic strength from October 12 as its 12 Benches with about 30 judges would assemble through videoconferencing daily. Five Benches of two to three judges in different combinations had been sitting on working days to hear around 20 cases daily since the outbreak of COVID-19 in March.
According to the apex courts website, 10 Benches of two to three judges and two single judge Benches will sit daily from October 12 to hear cases.