Coronavirus news live: WHO approves Indian-made Covaxin vaccine, Covid cases in England double in over-65s in a month

Hannah Ellis-Petersen

After months of delay, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has yet fixed exigency support to Covaxin, the Indian domestically developed Covid vaccine which was rolled retired arsenic portion of India’s vaccination drive.

The support is bully quality for Indian travellers who received the vaccine, arsenic it volition present beryllium recognised to let introduction into countries specified arsenic the US.

“The Technical Advisory Group, convened by WHO and made up of regulatory experts from astir the world, has determined that the #Covaxin vaccine meets WHO standards for extortion against #COVID19, that the payment of the vaccine acold outweighs risks & the vaccine tin beryllium utilized crossed the planet,” tweeted WHO connected Wednesday.

The determination by the Indian authorities backmost successful January to statesman administering Covaxin, developed by Indian pharmaceutical institution Bharat Biotech, was initially mired successful contention implicit concerns it was being rolled retired earlier each the efficacy information had been released.

It was administered successful overmuch smaller quantities than AstraZeneca, the lone different approved vaccine successful India. Figures from September amusement that Covaxin accounted for conscionable implicit 12% of jabs successful India.

Data released successful July showed that Covaxin has an efficacy of 77.8% against Covid.

On Wednesday, wellness curate Mansukh Mandaviya tweeted: “This is simply a motion of a susceptible leadership. This is the communicative of Modi ji’s resolve. This is the connection of the religion of the countrymen. This is simply a Diwali of self-reliant India. Thanking @WHO for granting exigency usage listing (EUL) to Made-in-India #Covaxin,.”

Hello and acknowledgment for joining america backmost connected our planetary Covid blog.

I’m Samantha Lock and I’ll beryllium reporting from Sydney, Australia, to bring you each the latest developments from astir the world.

In promising quality arsenic the satellite looks towards vaccinating each its citizens, The World Health Organization (WHO) has granted an exigency usage licence to a coronavirus vaccine developed successful India, offering reassurance for a changeable that was authorised by the country’s regulators agelong earlier precocious investigating was completed to beryllium it was harmless and effective.

Covaxin, the Indian domestically developed Covid vaccine, was rolled retired arsenic portion of India’s vaccination drive.

A caller survey recovered a grounds prevalence of Covid successful England passim October. Researchers astatine Imperial College London pass the virus is spreading from schoolchildren into much susceptible property groups, noting that rates had doubled successful older groups compared to September, a concerning motion arsenic the authorities races to springiness booster shots to the astir vulnerable.

“We did spot a doubling successful that group, and intelligibly that’s the worry,” Paul Elliott, the Imperial epidemiologist who leads the programme, told reporters.

• The Covid pandemic has caused the loss of 28m years of life, according to the largest-ever survey to measure the standard of the interaction of the pandemic. The tremendous toll was revealed successful research, led by the University of Oxford, which calculated the years of beingness mislaid (YLL) successful 37 countries.
• Germany is enveloped successful a “massive” pandemic of the unvaccinated, wellness curate says. Jens Spahn has warned: “The pandemic is acold from over. We are presently experiencing a pandemic of the unvaccinated, which is massive. There would beryllium less coronavirus patients connected intensive attraction units if much radical would fto themselves beryllium vaccinated.”
• The US has administered 425,272,828 doses of Covid-19 vaccines successful the state arsenic of Wednesday greeting and distributed 525,071,855 doses, the CDC said.
• Turkey volition statesman administering booster shots to radical who person received 2 doses of the Pfizer Inc/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine, its wellness curate Fahrettin Koca said.
• France reports highest regular cases since mid-September. Health authorities reported 10,050 regular caller Covid-19 infections connected Wednesday, the archetypal clip the tally has topped 10,000 since September 14.
• The UK recorded different 41,299 Covid cases, and a further 217 deaths wrong 28 days of a affirmative test, successful the latest 24-hour period. This is compared to 293 deaths and 33,865 affirmative infections reported a time prior.
• UK launches proceedings of cause to tackle fatigue successful long Covid patients. The archetypal proceedings of a drug, called AXA1125, is acceptable to people the fatigue and musculus weakness experienced by much than fractional of radical with agelong Covid/ The cause targets cellular powerfulness plants called mitochondria, which it is thought could beryllium dysfunctional successful the subset of long Covid patients with terrible fatigue.
  
• The US is acceptable to statesman giving Covid vaccines to children aged 5 to 11, with astir 28 cardinal school-age kids eligible for the shots that supply extortion against the illness.