Author: Dr Anand Mali

The uncertain path to authorisation in the US for Novavax despite passing the efficacy test with an impressive score of 90.4% might see India emerge as a major destination for the shots with the Serum Institute of India as manufacturing partner. The large Novavax trials conducted on 29,960 persons in the US and Mexico have delivered results that equal the Pfizer and Moderna jabs and do better than Johnson and Johnson, but regulatory clearance appears distant as an overflowing vault of vaccines has diminished the need for emergency use approvals. Under the US law, there is no need for additional…

The residents of Mumbai’s Hiranandani Heritage society in Kandivali have alleged that they were victims of a ‘vaccination scam’. The residents have alleged that they were inoculated with fake vaccine doses during a vaccination drive that was carried out on May 30. The society, Hiranandani Heritage Residents Welfare Association (HHRWA), has sought an investigation into the matter. Residents stated that a facilitator, Rajesh Pandey, got in touch with society committee members claiming to be a representative of Kokilaben Ambani Hospital. The vaccination drive was coordinated by one Sanjay Gupta, while a third person, Mahendra Singh, collected the money in cash…

A border town in northern Croatia is selling off its jilted houses for just one Kuna (11.83 Indian Rupees). While the coastal country has seen a spike in tourism in the recent past, the town of Legrad, situated just a few miles away from the country’s border with Hungary, has seen its population half in just 70 years. Once the second-most populous city, Legrad saw an exodus following the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire about a century ago. Due to its serene location, the town has marketed 19 abandoned houses and construction sites at a price of one kuna, according…

For any woman around the world, having long eyelashes is something that they always want. Therefore, They invest in mascaras that help them to achieve that purpose. However, for a woman named You Jianxia, these woes just do not exist! Hailing from China, she has broken her own record of having the world’s longest eyelashes. They are so long that she will be able to braid a needle-like thin braid that might look pretty interesting. “I first realized that my eyelashes were growing in 2015. They continue to grow slowly, becoming longer and longer,” Jianxia told Guinness World Records. “I…

Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath defeated world champion and grandmaster Viswanathan Anand in a charity chess game using help from in-game analysts and computers, a fact he disclosed only after Chess.com banned him for cheating and winning. Anand was playing virtual chess games versus celebrities , “Nikhil Kamath, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kichcha Sudeep, Sajid Nadiadwala, Riteish Deshmukh, Aamir Khan, Arijit Singh, Anaya Birla, and Manu Kumar Jain”,among others to raise funds to combat the Covid-19 pandemic. Anand won eight of the nine games during the event, Anand surprisingly lost to Kamath- whose moves had an astonishing accuracy rate of 99% Chess.com has…

A US lobster fisherman has lived to tell the tale after he claimed he was swallowed by a humpback whale and spat out in less than a minute. Michael Packard told a local paper that he was diving for lobster off the coast of the northeastern state of Massachusetts when the humpback whale trapped him in its mouth before coughing him back up. Michael Packard, 56, of Wellfleet, told WBZ-TV after he was released from Cape Cod Hospital that he was about 45 feet (14 meters) deep in the waters off Provincetown when “all of a sudden I felt this…

Through the concerted efforts of thousands of citizens, the government, and people from across the world, three-year-old toddler Ayaansh Gupta was finally able to receive a shot of the Rs 16-crore intravenous injection to cure his genetic disorder. The story of hope and humanity came to light after a couple from Hyderabad initiated a crowd-funding initiative to fund the treatment of their toddler battling spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) type-1 disorder in February. Over the course of a few months, as many as 62,400 people came together to contribute Rs 14.84 crore to fund the purchase of intravenous injection—Zolgensma—the world’s single-most…

As the Pakistan government continues to spread awareness about vaccination, around 300,000 recipients of the first dose never returned to receive the second dose of the vaccine An unusual move to tackle coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccine hesitancy, the provincial government in Pakistan’s Punjab has now decided to block the SIM cards of unvaccinated citizens, a news agency reported on Friday. The decision, as per ARY News, was taken at a meeting in Lahore presided over by the province’s health minister Dr. Yasmin Rashid. The move is seemingly aimed at forcing all those citizens who refuse to get themselves vaccinated to…

A group of public health experts, including doctors from AIIMS and members from the national taskforce on Covid-19, have said mass, indiscriminate and incomplete vaccination can trigger the emergence of mutant strains. The panel has also recommended that there is no need to inoculate those who have had coronavirus infection. Vaccinating those vulnerable and at risk should be the aim at present, instead of inoculating mass population including children, said experts from Indian Public Health Association, Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine and Indian Association of Epidemiologists in their latest report submitted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi “The present…

The recent guidelines for Covid management in children clarifies the need for masks in the population below 18 years of age. The guidelines, released by Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), also sets parameters for Covid-related tests and medication to be followed in the case of children. The new guidelines state that children aged 5 years or less are not required to wear masks. Those in the age group of 6-11 years may wear a mask depending on their ability to use a mask safely and appropriately under direct supervision of parents or guardians. Children aged 12-17 years should wear…