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‘Sterlite Copper can produce over 1000 MT oxygen per day, allow us to open’: Vedanta writes to TN govt, Health Minister

OpIndia Staff
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‘Sterlite Copper can produce over 1000 MT oxygen per day, allow us to open’: Vedanta writes to TN govt, Health Minister

The medical oxygen requirement of India increased 7 times from 700 tonnes per day to 5000 tonnes per day, amid the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic creating a huge disparity in the demand and supply.

Several corporate giants like TATA, Reliance, SAIL, Jindal have started providing medical oxygen by diverting their production.

To bridge this gap, Vedanta-owned Sterlite Copper has offered to restart production at its two oxygen plants in the now shut copper smelter at Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu. Vedanta said that the plant contains two oxygen plants with a combined production capacity of 1,050 tonnes of oxygen daily.

The company has sent two separate letters to the Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister in this regard.

The CEO of Sterlite Copper, Pankaj Kumar, in the letter to the Union Ministry wrote, “We would like to now offer these facilities for your use towards ensuring that there is no lack of this vital commodity in the nation.”

“We would be grateful to be allowed this opportunity to support the nation’s needs. Our staff stands prepared to get these two plants operational in the shortest possible time and begin dispatching oxygen to the critical areas as per your direction,” the letter continued.

The company expressed its desire to “join hands with the commendable efforts of our PM at this critical juncture,” as per the letter.

In another letter directed to CM Palaniswami, the company urged, “One oxygen plant of 500 TPD [tonnes per day] can be operated to meet the critical demand of oxygen in this hour of peril… The Oxygen Plant is presently lying shut owing to the orders passed by the TNPCB and the state government, shutting down the copper smelter unit of the company. This is a humble request to grant us the necessary permission and allow us to run the oxygen plant which will be instrumental in supporting the state governments in these critical times.”

Vedanta has also filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking permission to produce oxygen at the smelter, which was closed in mid-March 2018.

In an interview to Business Today, a Sterlite Copper spokesperson informed, “We have the capacity to produce liquid oxygen also that can be transported in tankers. We have talked to units in Coimbatore who are ready to get us cylinders done in 30 to 45 days.”

Closure of the Sterlite Copper Plant 

The Vedanta-owned Sterlite Copper plant in Thoothukudi was shut down by Tamil Nadu in May 2018 following the violent protests staged by the locals and activists, who alleged that the plant posed serious health hazards. 

Though the plant later got clearance by the National Green Tribunal, the state government approached the Supreme Court seeking a stay on the National Green Tribunals order. The apex court stayed the order of the NGT and allowed Sterlite Copper to approach the Madras High Court, which upheld the government order. 

The case is now in the Supreme Court with Sterlite Copper challenging the Madras High Court verdict. The company’s plea to access the plant for just maintenance purposes has also not been entertained by the court so far.

The closure of the Sterlite Copper plant had such widespread ramifications that it made the country an importer of copper cathodes from being one of the top five exporters.

Shortage of medical oxygen in India

On witnessing an acute shortage of medical oxygen, several companies including Reliance Industries, SAIL, Jindal, Tata Steel and ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India have already volunteered to supply oxygen from their facilities. The steel ministry informed that 28 oxygen plants located in the steel facility of both public and private sectors are supplying about 1,500 tonnes of medical oxygen every day and additional stock of 30,000 MT, including the safety stock, is being made available for medical use. 

Priyanka Gandhi’s Twitter faux pas, takes three attempts for condolence tweet

OpIndia Staff
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Priyanka Gandhi’s Twitter faux pas, takes three attempts for condolence tweet

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, while expressing her condolence on Sitaram Yechury’s son’s demise, ended up with quite an embarrassing faux pas.

At first, she ended up condoling death of Sitaram Kesari’s son, when in reality, it is Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury who lost his son. At 10:34, she tweeted her condolences to Sitaram Kesari and his family.

Priyanka Gandhi’s now-deleted tweet condoling death of Sitaram Kesari’s son.

Sitaram Kesari is past Congress President and has not been a favourite with the Gandhi family. He who served as Congress’ party president from 1996 to 1998 after which he was unceremoniously removed to make way for Sonia Gandhi. He was reportedly locked up in the bathroom at Congress headquarters in Akbar Road so he could not stop Sonia from entering the office with her supporters to take over as party president.

Reply to Priyanka Gandhi’s now-deleted tweet

As one can see, a Twitter user had tried to correct Priyanka Gandhi whether it should Sitaram Kesari or Sitaram Yechury in her tweet. Original tweet of Priyanka Gandhi now stands deleted.

Priyanka Gandhi fan account

However, her fan accounts have still kept their copy-paste message condoling death of ‘Sitaram Kesari’s son’ on their timelines.

Soon, her social media team must have scrambled together and stepped in for the actual condolence message that should have gone up from Priyanka Gandhi’s account.

Except, the person handling Priyanka Gandhi’s account ended up tweeting the content they received as is. This was her tweet at 10:36 AM, two minutes after her first tweet on Sitaram Kesari.

As can be seen, her condolence tweet had ‘Please tweet’ before her actual message that showed that the condolence message was copied-pasted from WhatsApp or other such tool.

Soon, this tweet was also deleted and finally, in third attempt, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra managed to tweet the proper condolence message to correct recipient.

At 10:38 AM, four minutes after her first tweet, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tweeted correct condolence message to correct intended recipient on third attempt.

Yechury’s son Ashish succumbed to Chinese coronavirus earlier today after battling for two weeks in hospital.

Sri Lanka asks ship carrying nuclear material for China to leave Hambantota, had docked after developing technical snag

OpIndia Staff
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Sri Lanka asks ship carrying nuclear material for China to leave Hambantota, had docked after developing technical snag

A Chinese ship carrying radioactive material was asked to leave the Hambantota port in Sri Lanka while on its way to China when it developed technical difficulties and sought permission to dock at the port on Tuesday. 

The vessel- MV BBC Naples, managed by the China Merchants Port Holding Company, which had come from the port of Rotterdam was found carrying uranium hexafluoride when it docked at Chinese-run Hambantota port, informed Anil Ranjith, a top official of the Sri Lanka Atomic Energy Authority (SLAEA).

Ranjith in a statement to AFP informed, “The ship failed to declare its dangerous cargo – uranium hexafluoride and we decided to order it to leave our waters immediately.”

The commercial vessel was carrying uranium hexafluoride- the radioactive material, serves as fuel for nuclear power plants, he added. 

The SLAEA said the local agent of the vessel failed to disclose its radioactive cargo when it sought permission from the Harbour Master to dock in at the Hambantota port. 

Sajith Premadasa, the main opposition leader informed the parliament that the Sri Lanka Navy, who is in charge of the Hambantota port security, was also not allowed to carry out inspections on the vessel.

He has also demanded an investigation into the incident, describing it as a serious safety and security threat.

The Sri Lankan government has not commented on the incident as yet. The port authority have informed that the ship, carrying the flag of Antigua and Barbados had entered the port on 20 April at 9 pm. It had made an urgent call at Hambantota for some repairs. Agents of the ship had not informed the port authorities about the hazardous cargo on board, as reported by Sri Lankan media.

About the Hambantota Port

Hambantota which is about 260 kilometers (162 miles) south of Colombo port was leased to China in 2017 for 99 years after the Colombo government was unable to repay the $1.4 million it had borrowed from Beijing to build it.

The port is near key Indian Ocean shipping lanes.

The entry of two Chinese submarines into Colombo in 2014 angered India, after which Sri Lanka has not allowed Chinese submarine visits.

Rajasthan: Crowd gathered in Jaipur’s Jama masjid pelts stones on police team, vehicles damaged

OpIndia Staff
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Rajasthan: Crowd gathered in Jaipur’s Jama masjid pelts stones on police team, vehicles damaged

On April 21, an incident of stone-pelting on Police personnel took place outside Jama Masjid in Sanganer, Rajasthan. As per reports, a large crowd comprising people from the particular community were gathered outside Jama Masjid even after the curfew in the area due to the Covid-19 surge. When the Police tried to disperse them, they started pelting stones.

As per media reports, the administration had imposed curfew in the region to curb the rising cases of Covid-19 infection. However, the movement of people and public gatherings in the mosque continued. The Sanganer Police arrived at the scene to talk to the mosque administration. During that time, the crowd present in the mosque attacked the Police personnel. Several vehicles were also damaged in the attack.

It has to be noted that amidst a surge in Covid-19 cases, Section 144 has been imposed in the state of Rajasthan till May 21. Under section 144, it is illegal to gather in a crowded manner anywhere, including the religious places. The Police had arrived at the scene to disperse the crowd and got attacked. The Police are trying to identify those who had pelted stones and violated Section 144. Further action as per law will be taken once they are identified.

DCP Abhijit Singh had arrived at the spot to control the situation, as per a report by Zee Rajasthan. The police are trying to identify and arrest the anti-social elements which engaged in stone pelting at the mosque.

The covid-19 situation in Rajasthan

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Rajasthan reported 14,622 new Covid-19 cases on April 21. 10,795 were reported recovered on the same day, and 62 lost their lives to Covid-19 related complications. With 80,981 tests performed on Wednesday, the positive ratio was at 18.1%. The state has been consistently showing a high positive ratio for the last ten days.

Sitaram Yechury’s son passes away due to Covid-19

OpIndia Staff
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Sitaram Yechury’s son passes away due to Covid-19

The General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) – Sitaram Yechury lost his eldest son Ashish Yechury to COVID-19 today morning.

Yechury took to Twitter to announce the unfortunate news and thanked all who treated him.

His tweet read, “It is with great sadness that I have to inform that I lost my elder son, Ashish Yechury to COVID-19 this morning. I want to thank all those who gave us hope and who treated him – doctors, nurses, frontline health workers, sanitation workers and innumerable others who stood by us.”

Ashish Yechury was being treated at Gurgaon’s Medanta Hospital, where he lost his battle to Covid-19. Ashish was 34 years old and would have turned 35 on June 9.

NewsLaundry tweet

Ashish Yechury was an Assistant Editor at Newslaundry.

Sitaram Yechury’s wife Seema Chisti is also a journalist-writer.

Action under NSA and Gangster Act against black marketers of oxygen cylinders, Covid-19 medicines, warns UP CM Yogi Adityanath

OpIndia Staff
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Action under NSA and Gangster Act against black marketers of oxygen cylinders, Covid-19 medicines, warns UP CM Yogi Adityanath

In a statement today, Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath took aim at black marketers trying to make a profit through the illegal sale of oxygen cylinders and COVID-19 medicines. “Those found involved in black marketing of oxygen cylinders and covid related medicines will be facing action under NSA and Gangster Act”, warned CM Yogi.

The National Security Act allows the government to detain an individual for up to 12 months, whereas the Gangster Act of U.P. allows the police to attach the property of the accused and confiscate it.

CM Yogi Adityanath has been busy tackling the pandemic, ordering the deployment of an officer of Secretary level in each district in order to overlook the expansion of hospital beds in these districts. He has further announced the setting up of three additional oxygen plants by next week.

“With DRDO’s help, a new oxygen plant with a capacity of 220 cylinders will be installed and made operational in the next 2-3 days. The government of India has allocated 750 MT oxygen,” Yogi said. 

He added that before any medical college is recognized in the state, it should be ensured that the respective college has its own oxygen plant. The CM has also ordered that all vehicles carrying oxygen will have to be GPS-tracked, oxygen plants will be provided police protection and steps will be taken to prevent black marketing.

He also ordered that oxygen plants should take up supply to the nearest hospital and all hospitals with L1, L2, and L3 facilities will be tracked separately for oxygen demand and supply, ensuring a backup of at least 36 hours.

As ICMR study proves high efficacy of made in India Covid vaccines, read how politicians and media had stoked vaccine hesitancy against Covaxin

OpIndia Staff
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As ICMR study proves high efficacy of made in India Covid vaccines, read how politicians and media had stoked vaccine hesitancy against Covaxin

Today, the ICMR announced that the indigenous Bharat Biotech-developed Covaxin neutralizes multiple variants of SARS-CoV-2 including the double mutant strain, according to a study. ICMR shared the update through a tweet which also entails an infographic detailing the results of the study.

ICMR also announced that the infection rate among those who have taken two doses of Covaxin is 0.04%, while the rate after two doses of Covishield is 0.03%, which means that both vaccines being administered in India are highly effective.

These results announced by the ICMR will hopefully put to rest the multitude of doubts and vaccine hesitancy manufactured by political actors and figures in the media for months. For many months, these doomsday predictors fueled vaccine hesitancy by making all kinds of baseless claims about Covaxin. Now, with the benefit of hindsight, here is a brief snapshot of how these doomsday prophets were utterly proven wrong.

The Political Opposition

Back in January 2021, after the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) approved the emergency use of COVID-19 vaccines Bharat Biotech’s vaccine Covaxin and SII’s ‘Covishield’, opposition leaders had indulged in peddling propaganda by targeting the government over the efficacy and safety of the vaccines and resorting to fear-mongering ahead of the release of the cure for the pandemic.

It is an old saying that Opposition is just Government-in-waiting, however many opposition figures took a narrow view when it came to indigenous vaccines and did not think of the national interest. Rather than encouraging people to be immunized, many opposition leaders played politics over life-saving vaccines.

In January 2021, the Chhattisgarh government of Bhupesh Baghel came out against Covaxin. In February, Chattisgarh’s Health Minister TS Singh Deo aggravated the situation by writing a letter to Union Health Minister Dr. Harshavardhan to halt the supply of COVAXIN into Chhattisgarh, raising unfounded doubts about the made in India vaccine.

Shashi Tharoor, thought of as one of Congress’ “more educated” leaders, also joined the fear-mongering brigade against COVAXIN in January, falsely labelling the government’s approval as “premature” and “dangerous”. In hindsight, we can confidently declare that Shashi didn’t know what he was talking about. Also, the vaccine was undergoing Phase-3 trials at the time, so the “not yet had Phase 3 trials” part was just straight up false.

Instead of encouraging people to get vaccinated to protect themselves from the pandemic, the Thiruvananthapuram MP was not only discrediting the scientists and other experts who have put all their efforts to develop the vaccine but also pushing the innocent people away from the cure.

Senior Congress leader Rashid Alvi did not shy away from making bizarre and absurd claims about COVAXIN, stating that just like BJP and PM Modi were using agencies including CBI, Income Tax Department and ED against opposition leaders, they might use the vaccine to target the opposition leaders.

He said that the vaccine will be misused by the BJP against political adversaries and justified the calls for the boycott of vaccination drive. He also supported Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s insane claim that indigenous vaccines like COVAXIN are BJP’s vaccines.

Former Union Minister and Congress MP Jairam Ramesh also pushed for uncertainity and doubt in the case of COVAXIN, directly calling upon Union Minister Dr. Harshavardhan to clarify. Cleary, Mr. Ramesh did not consider Bharat Biotech to be “first rate”, because if he did, he would not raise fears and doubts about COVAXIN in the first place.

Deputy leader of the Congress in the Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma also raised aspersions on the efficacy of Bharat Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine by alleging that the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) “dispensed” with mandatory protocols and verification of data by granting COVAXIN its approval.

Mr. Sharma, who heads the Parliamentary Panel on Home Affairs that extensively dealt with the issue, said no country had dispensed with mandatory Phase-3 trials and verification of data, and the issue of granting authorization needs to be taken carefully.

In one of the most despicable comments politicizing vaccines, SP President Akhilesh Yadav said that he doesn’t trust “BJP’s vaccines” and will wait for his government to form. This comment earned him righteous condemnation from all across the political spectrum, resulting in him doing a U-Turn just a day later.

RJD leader Tej Pratap Yadav, son of Fodder scam convict Lalu Prasad Yadav, also pushed vaccine hesitancy in January. In a statement, he said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi should take the first shot of Covid-19 vaccine, then, we will also take it,” implying that there was something inherently dangerous about the vaccine. However, PM Modi did take the vaccine immediately after he became eligible for it as per the rules set by his govt.

The Media Narrative

Whilst it is outrageous of our politicians to lie and mislead people about something even as vital and important as vaccines, it does not come as a surprise. The real scandal, however, is our media dutifully going along with vaccine sceptic narratives. A repeat offender of this vaccine skepticism was Shekhar Gupta’s The Print, with it pushing many articles sowing doubts about the efficacy of indigenous vaccines.

Nitin Pai, who regularly gets to opine in Shekhar Gupta’s publication, termed DCGI’s approval of Covaxin “a political jumla” which reinforces Modi’s “Atmanirbhar Bharat”. In the headline itself, The Print puts the word approval in quotation marks, implying that somehow Covaxin’s approval was not based on science. Hopefully, this is not the level of discourse being offered at Pai’s Takshashila Institution, otherwise, a lot of people should ask for their money back.

Sandhya Ramesh, ironically The Print’s Science reporter, shared an article written by a colleague in The Print, literally characterizing Covaxin as “India’s most controversial Covid vaccine”. For a few clicks and hits, The Print has no qualms in labelling life-saving vaccines as “controversial”, encouraging vaccine hesitancy.

Saket Gokhale, a person who likes to spam frivolous RTIs and considers himself an activist, could not resist from being away from peddling lies and misinformation. Gokhale, whose understanding of science is equivalent to the Congress party’s perceived integrity, found illogical ways to discredit the ingeniously produced vaccine. He attributed false statements to DCGI VG Somani to attack the Made in India vaccines and in the process exposed himself as a spectacular fool with zero understanding of the vaccine and its trial results.

India is going through a difficult time, as many different parts of the country are witnessing a surge in Coronavirus cases. In this situation, there is nothing more important than to promote immunization and provide vaccines to every eligible citizen possible. However, such efforts will not be as effective if the political opposition and the media class push vaccine hesitancy, just for the sake of undermining PM Modi.

Therefore, when it comes to vaccines, prudent statements based on facts are the only way to go. Not half-guesses with dubious sources backing it up.

Is Serum Institute really making a huge profit and charging discriminatory price from states for Covid-19 vaccine? Read details

Raju Das
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Is Serum Institute really making a huge profit and charging discriminatory price from states for Covid-19 vaccine? Read details

Ever since various pharmaceutical companies developed vaccines for Covid-19, several non-NDA parties and left-liberals in India have launched a vested campaign against Indian companies, while batting for foreign companies. Led by the Congress party, this anti-BJP section has been attacking the Indian origin Covaxin made by Bharat Biotech, while asking the govt to approve foreign vaccines, even if they are highly costly compared to Indian companies. The latest target of this left-liberal attack is the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine maker, after the company announced prices for COVISHIELD to be charged from state governments and private hospitals.

The company announced the rates today after the central govt had opened up Covid-19 vaccination, allowing vaccine manufacturers to sell 50% of their production to state governments and private hospitals, while the remaining 50% will have to be sold to the central govt. The Centre had directed the companies to declare the price for states and private sector before 1st May, and accordingly, SII announced the prices today, which is ₹400 for state governments and ₹600 for the private sector.

However, it didn’t go down well with the left-liberals, and they started attacking the company, accusing it of making huge profit by setting these prices. The attack was led by Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who found another industrialist after Ambani and Adani to attack PM Modi with.

The Kerala MP claimed that the vaccines will only help a few industrialists, and the prices will help ‘Modi’s friend’ to earn a huge profit. However, Rahul Gandhi was not the only one to launch an attack on the company and its CEO Adar Poonawalla. A large number of politicians, journalists, radical Islamists and left-liberal activists started attacking the company on the same allegations.

Most of them accused SII of discriminating between states and centre, as they pointed that the company is selling COVISHIELD to the centre at ₹150, therefore it should charge the same amount from states also.

TMC MP Mahua Maitra wanted to know if there is anyone who is a citizen of a state who is not a citizen of India, as the prices are different for the state and centre.

Rana Ayyub even wanted to ask tough questions to Adar Poonawalla, as if he is a public representative.

No huge profit, but end of loss

Although it is correct that at present Serum Institute of India is supplying the vaccine to ₹150 plus tax per dose to the government of India, it is completely incorrect to accuse that it will be making a huge profit by selling at ₹400 per dose to the states. This is because, the company is selling the vaccine at a loss to the centre, and it can’t continue doing that. Today Adar Poonawalla said in an interview with CNBC the company needs to pay 50% of its revenue as royalty to AstraZeneca, and the company is making a loss of approximately ₹150 per dose.

It is important to note that the company is supplying the vaccine to a concessional rate only for a limited period of time, as it has already announced earlier. Adar Poonawalla had earlier announced that the company will supply the first 100 million doses of the vaccine to govt of India at a low rate, and after that, they will selling the same at ₹1,000 per dose in the private market.

“We’ve given a special price of Rs 200 for the first 100 million doses only to Government of India on their request that we want to support common man, vulnerable, poor, healthcare workers. After that we’ll be selling it at Rs 1000 in private markets,” the SII CEO had said in January.

This means, it was already known that the company will increase the price after supplying 100 million doses, and now they are charging a much lower price of ₹600 from the private market instead of ₹1000 they had announced earlier. Only, the company is supplying more than double of its initial commitment at the lower rate. Because, after the initial contract of 100 million doses, the government of India signed another contract last month with the company for the supply of 110 million doses at the concessional rate, and the company is still supplying vaccine under that contract. The company is expected to complete the delivery by July, after which the centre will have to sign a new contract, and the company has made it clear that no more discount will be offered from now.

The SII CEO also said that they had proposed the price of ₹600 for both state governments and private sector, and talked to some states on the issue. But the state govts requested to bring the price down, after which the company decided to charge a lower price of ₹400 from the states. This means, state govts were aware that the prices will be higher than the current price charged from the centre, as they were part of the discussions on it.

Centre will also be charged ₹400

Adar Poonawalla revealed another important point in his interview with CNBC. He said that after the company supplies the fresh batch of 110 million doses to the central govt as per the contract, they will charge ₹400 from the centre for any new purchase order. He said that the price of ₹400 has been set for all governments, and there is no discrimination.

SII was giving concession to Indian govt, and some other countries too, as those governments had placed order with the company for the vaccine even before the trial data of the vaccine was published. The countries had taken a risk by placing order committing to purchase an untested product, and that’s why they were offered a lower rate. But now that the efficacy of the vaccine has been proved, there is no need to offer such discount.  

It is also to be noted that in exchange for the discounted rate, the govt of India has offered an advance of ₹3000 crore for SII. The company needed the fund for expanding its vaccine production capacity, and the central govt provided the fund as a credit against future supply of doses.

Centre’s citizen vs state’s citizen

The argument that SII is discriminating among citizens by charging different prices from centre and states does not make sense at all, as there are no different citizens belonging to the centre and the states, as TMC MP Mahua Maitra and many others seem to believe. The vaccines that the centre is buying, which it will continue to do so, are supplied to state governments only. It is not that PM Narendra Modi or his cabinet is consuming the vaccine themselves. The vaccines are given to Indian citizens in all the states in India.

The centre is vaccinating people over 45 years of age free of cost in all the states, which it will continue to do so. It is not that the Modi govt is vaccinating a different set of people ignoring citizens in Indian states, as the opposition leaders and left liberals are suggesting.

In fact, as Adar Poonawalla said today, the states have been given an option to buy vaccine themselves, they are not compelled to do so. If the states think they can’t afford the vaccine, they can choose to not buy the vaccine, and continue the vaccination program using the doses supplied by the centre.

Charity vs business

By claiming that SII is making profits from selling vaccines, the left liberals want to imply that the company should spend crores of rupees from its pocket to protect the people of India from the Chinese virus. SII has invested a large amount of money to expand its capacities to produce the vaccines, both Covishield and the upcoming vaccine Covavax. In fact, immediately after the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was developed and finalised, the company had started manufacturing and stockpiling it, so that millions of doses are available by the time vaccine is approved after the clinical trial. Had the vaccine proved to be a failure, it would have lost crores of rupees. Although organisations like GAVI and Gates Foundation shared some of the risk, the company invested fund in the vaccine project, which comes at a cost.

No company can sustain by selling a product at cost price, it has to earn a reasonable amount of profit to expand its operations, mitigate risks, spend in R&D etc. Therefore, it is not reasonable to expect SII to supply the vaccine at even cost price, and it impossible that the company will continue to sale at loss. The company had already announced it was offering the discount only for a limited quantity of vaccine, and after that, they will increase the price. SII has supplied double the committed quantity at concession and charging much less than the earlier announced price. They can’t be expected to continue doing charity forever.

Foreign vs Indian company

It is interesting to note that while many people are against SII increasing the price of COVISHIELD, they themselves had argued that those who can afford should be allowed to purchase costly foreign vaccines. Congress leaders had demanded that those who can afford price of ‘Advanced Pfizer and Moderna vaccines’ should not be denied access, and govt should approve their use.

But now when now a similar choice has been made available at much lower rates, the same people objecting. It may be noted that the doses of Pfizer and Moderna costs between ₹2000-₹3000, while the Oxford vaccine is being sold at a much lower rate to the private sector by SII. Although the price may be slightly more than ₹600 to account for logistics, it will still much lower than the rate of foreign vaccines.

It shows that Indian left-liberals only want to bring the Indian industry down, while promoting foreign companies. Not just COVISHIELD, and Covaxin, Indian vaccine manufacturers sell almost all other vaccines at much lower price compared to their global counterparts. On the other hand, pharmaceutical giants like Pfizer are known for overpriced drugs and their greedy nature. It has to be noted that Pfizer wanted Latin American countries to pledge their national assets, including federal bank reserves, military assets, to protect the company from any future liability arising out of adverse reactions of the vaccine or its own negligence, fraud or malice. And the Indian left-liberals are campaigning for such while opposing Indian companies selling vaccines at much lower price.

‘Remdesivir is not magic bullet, 85 percent of Covid patients do not need hospitalisation: Top doctors issue advisory

OpIndia Staff
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‘Remdesivir is not magic bullet, 85 percent of Covid patients do not need hospitalisation: Top doctors issue advisory

Amidst the rising number of coronavirus cases in the country, top doctors—Dr Randeep Guleria, director of AIIMS, Dr Shetty, chairman of Narayana Health, and Dr Naresh Trehan, chairman of Medanta Hospitals, advised people on how to battle out the new wave of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Brought together by ANI, the top doctors spoke on a range of issues, from dispelling myths about the ineffectiveness of vaccines against COVID-19 to importance of maintaining COVID appropriate behaviour such as masking up properly and regularly to unwarranted hoarding of essential life-saving drugs like Remdesivir and medicinal oxygen.

“Get yourself tested for COVID-19, it is the most important thing”: Dr Shetty

Dr Shetty of Narayana Health advised people to check their oxygen saturation levels every 6 hours. Issuing an advisory, Dr Shetty said, “If your oxygen saturation is above 94% then there is no problem. But if it is falling after exercise, then, you need to call a doctor. It’s important you get the right treatment at the right time.”

Dr Shetty also added that COVID-19 should not be taken lightly and asked people to get tested for the infection even if their symptoms do not indicate that they are down with the coronavirus. “Any patient complaining about anything in their body, it is COVID unless proven otherwise,” Dr Shetty said.

“There is a possibility that you may be asymptomatic, then, doctors will tell you to stay at home, isolate yourself, wear a mask and check your oxygen saturation every 6 hours. If you have any symptom like body ache, cold, cough, indigestion, vomiting- I have one important message- get yourself tested for COVID-19. It is the most important thing,” he added.

Remdesivir is not a ‘Ramban’: Dr Trehan dispels doubts regarding the crucial antiviral drug

Dispelling doubts about COVID-19 that are doing the rounds among the masses, Dr Trehan of Medanta said that a very small percentage of people would require hospitalisation. He said the hospital beds should be utilised judiciously & with responsibility.

Dr Trehan also spoke on the usage of antiviral drug Remdesivir that has been in huge demand ever since the second wave of the coronavirus struck India. He said that they have made a protocol to not administer Remdesivir to everyone who tests positive. Only after doctors look at test results, symptoms, comorbidities of a patient, he said, should the drug be administered. “Remdesivir isn’t a ‘Ramban’, it only decreases viral load in people who need it,” Dr Trehan said.

The chairman of Medanta advised patients to make judicious use of oxygen. He urged patients to not hoard oxygen which would unnecessarily deprive others of the gas and asked them to stop its wastage.

“Today we have enough oxygen if we try to use it judiciously. I want to tell the public that if you don’t need oxygen then don’t use it as a security blanket. Waste of oxygen will only lead to depriving someone who needs it,” said Dr Trehan, the chairman of Medanta Hospital, Gurgaon.

85 per cent of people infected with COVID-19 would not need hospitalisation: Dr Randeep Guleria

Speaking on the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the country, Dr Randeep Guleria, the chairman of AIIMS, Delhi, said that more than 85% of people will recover without any specific treatment in the form of Remdesivir etc. He added that most will have symptoms like the common cold, sore throat etc. and within 5-7 days, they will recover with symptomatic treatment. Only 15 per cent may go to moderate disease level, the doctor said.

Dr Guleria also said that most people can ward off COVID-19 by simply taking paracetamol. He said Remdesivir is not a magic bullet and urged people to simply remain hydrated, consult with their doctors to recover from COVID-19.

“Important to understand that most of us who in home isolation or in the hospital because of panic doesn’t actually need any specific treatment. Only a small percentage require Remdesivir. Don’t consider this as a magic bullet,” Dr Guleria said.

With respect to the oxygen demand, Dr Guleria said that people whose oxygen saturation is above 94 per cent do not need to take supplemental oxygen. He even suggested that even those people whose oxygen levels drop to 90-92 per cent are not in the immediate need for oxygen. In such cases, Dr Gurelia said, patients should continuously monitor their oxygen levels and consult with their doctor for their treatment.

“As a country, if we work together, use oxygen and Remdesivir judiciously, then, there will be no shortage anywhere. In terms of the number of people who need oxygen and oxygen supply, we are well balanced,” he said.

Dr Guleria urged people to stop hoarding Remdesivir and oxygen cylinders, stating that others might be deprived of the critical supplies if they continue to store up the antiviral drug and oxygen.

The chairman of AIIMS also quashed the rumours that vaccines are ineffective against COVID-19. He asked people to get vaccinated and said that the vaccines protect people from severe effects of the virus. However, he cautioned people to still remain masked up even if they have had their doses of vaccines.

“Vaccines prevents from getting diseases in form of severe illness, going to ICU, during that time one can still test positive for RTPCR test and can be infectious…wearing a mask after getting vaccines is important to prevent those who are yet to take vaccines and who are susceptible to the COVID-19 infection,” he said.

After lobbying for foreign vaccines, Rahul Gandhi calls Serum Institute’s Adar Poonawalla ‘Modi’s friend’, claims few industrialists will earn profit from vaccine

OpIndia Staff
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After lobbying for foreign vaccines, Rahul Gandhi calls Serum Institute’s Adar Poonawalla ‘Modi’s friend’, claims few industrialists will earn profit from vaccine

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi has decided that attacking Indian businessman is the best strategy to defeat Narendra Modi. After relentlessly accusing the Modi govt of working only for select ‘friends’ like Ambani and Adani, he has made Indian vaccine manufacturers the target of latest attack. After several attempts to diss India‘s indigenous COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin by Bharat Biotech, Rahul Gandhi is now after Adar Poonawala, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Serum Institute of India which is making Covishield, the Covid-19 vaccine from Oxford University-AstraZeneca.

After Adani-Ambani, now Adar

In the latest attack, Rahul Gandhi has labelled Adar Poonawalla as ‘Modi’s friend. In a tweet attaching SII’s vaccine rates for the state governments and private hospitals announced by the company earlier today, he implied that the Centre is supporting a few companies to ‘earn profits’.

Prior to this, Rahul Gandhi attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his same old allegation of wanting to sell the country to a few industrialists. Only this time, he has added Adar Poonawalla to the Adani-Ambani list. 

These remarks come after the central government liberalized the sale of Covid-19 vaccine in Phase 03 of the vaccination drive to boost the inoculation process. 

Rahul Gandhi’s tweets reek of an attempt to allege that the Modi government has taken this step to help vaccine makers earn undue profits. 

At this juncture, we must specify that Adar Poonawalla in his latest interview to CNBC-TV18 categorically specified that the company is not here to take advantage of the pandemic and is suffering a loss of Rs 150 per dose. He added that SII has to pay 50% of the price to AstraZeneca as royalty.

In a not-so-astonishing move, Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders have been campaigning for foreign vaccines. In fact, when the Russian made Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik-V was approved by the Modi govt, he had taken credit for the same.

Rahul Gandhi claims it was after the opposition put up a fight did the Centre make way for foreign-made vaccines and claimed the GOI appreciated the opposition for its suggestions.

It is interesting to note that while advocating costly American vaccines made by Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson, the opposition leaders were saying that let those who can afford to buy the costly foreign vaccines. But now when an Indian company is charging only the cost as the price, they are terming it as ‘Modi’s friend making profit’.

Vaccination drive in India

India is currently running the largest vaccination drive with a total of 13cr+ doses of Covid-19 vaccine administered as of Monday and 17.5M people fully vaccinated.

The government has additionally extended support to the manufacturers to ramp up the production and plans to invite new players at the domestic and international levels.

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