China grudgingly concedes India’s vaccines are good

A health worker collects a nasal sample from a hermit for COVID-19 testing, in Kolkata on Saturday. PIC/PTI

As demand for the India-made COVID-19 vaccines gathers momentum in foreign countries, even China appears to have grudgingly accepted its South Asian neighbour's domain expertise.

An article in the China Communist Party's mouthpiece, Global Times, states: "Experts suggested that India's vaccines are no less competitive than Chinese COVID-19 vaccines in both research and production capacity, considering that India has the world's largest vaccine manufacturer and lower costs in labour and facilities."

The report quotes Jiang Chunlai from Jilin University's School of Life Sciences, who had visited Bharat Biotech, as saying: "Despite India's reputation for generic drugs, the country is not behind China in vaccine R&D."

"India has the world's largest vaccine manufacturer, Serum Institute of India, that has a very mature production and supply capacity, even stronger than some Western countries. Indian vaccine manufacturers also have a much earlier cooperation with global institutes including WHO, GAVI and the Pan American Health Organization in South America (PAHO), and earned their trust decades ago," Jiang said.

India records 228 deaths
With 18,222 new Coronavirus cases and 228 deaths recorded in the past 24 hours, India's overall infection tally stood at 1,04,31,639 on Saturday, while the death toll reached 1,50,798, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said. India continues its streak of low daily new cases and the country has reported a total of 1,00,56,651 recoveries so far. The recovery rate stands at 96.41 per cent, while the fatality rate is 1.45 as per cent.

90 found with new strain
The central government on Saturday said that a total of 90 persons have been detected with the new ‘more transmissible' UK Coronavirus mutant strain. They have been kept in physical isolation in health facilities. "Total number of persons infected with the UK mutant strain of COVID-19 now stands at 90 in the country," the Union Health Ministry said in a statement.

According to the ministry, all the 90 persons have been kept in a single room isolation in designated healthcare facilities by the respective state governments. Their close contacts have also been put under quarantine. "Comprehensive contact tracing has been initiated for co-travellers, family contacts and others. Genome sequencing on other specimens is also on," the ministry added.

Modi lauds Indian diaspora
PM Narendra Modi on Saturday lauded the contributions made by the Indian diaspora community to aid the country's fight against the pandemic. "The Indian diaspora helped in the country's fight against the pandemic by contributing to PM CARES. It is being used to strengthen the health infrastructure in the country," Modi said while addressing the 16th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Convention.

1,04,31,639
Total number of cases in the country as of Saturday

1,50,798
Total no. of deaths due to the virus in India as of Saturday

1,00,56,651
Patients recovered and discharged in India as of Saturday