Coronavirus updates | Covaxin nod: WHO seeks more data

The U.S. moved a step closer to expanding COVID-19 vaccinations for millions more children as a panel of government advisers on Tuesday, October 26, 2021, endorsed kid-size doses of Pfizer’s shots for 5 to 11-year-olds

India saw a single-day rise of 12,428 new COVID-19 cases, the lowest in 238 days, while the active cases declined to 1,63,816, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday.

With the fresh cases, the total tally climbed to 3,42,02,202, while the death toll climbed to 4,55,068 with 356 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 a.m.

The daily rise in new coronavirus infections has been below 30,000 for 31 straight days and less than 50,000 daily new cases have been reported for 120 consecutive days now.

Also Read | The vaccination milestone and a distant goal

Here are the latest updates:

Brazil senators recommend Bolsonaro face charges over COVID

A Brazilian Senate committee recommended on Tuesday that President Jair Bolsonaro face a series of criminal indictments for actions and omissions related to the world’s second highest COVID-19 death toll.

The 7-to-4 vote was the culmination of a six-month committee investigation of the government’s handling of the pandemic. It formally approved a report calling for prosecutors to try Bolsonaro on charges ranging from charlatanism and inciting crime to misuse of public funds and crimes against humanity, and in doing so hold him responsible for many of Brazil’s more than 600,000 COVID-19 deaths. – AP

Bengal’s decision to reopen schools, colleges hailed widely

West Bengal’s decision to reopen colleges and schools from November 15 has been widely welcomed by teachers, students and doctors alike, with many saying the move should have come earlier and that these institutions should have a mechanism for early detection of COVID-19 cases.

“In the U.S. and Europe, the effect of closure of educational institutions has been extensively studied and they are of the opinion that [the long closure] has decreased students’ life expectancy and caused economic damage that will take about 70 years to set right. We have to remember the closure has been much longer in India and therefore the effect is going to be huge,” Dr. Arjun Dasgupta, one of Kolkata’s leading ENT specialists, told The Hindu.

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U.S. FDA panel backs Pfizer’s low-dose COVID-19 vaccine for children

The U.S. moved a step closer to expanding COVID-19 vaccinations for millions more children as a panel of government advisers on Tuesday, October 26, 2021, endorsed kid-size doses of Pfizer’s shots for 5- to 11-year-olds.

A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel voted unanimously, with one abstention, that the vaccine’s benefits in preventing COVID-19 in that age group outweigh any potential risks — including a heart-related side effect that’s been very rare in teens and young adults despite their use of a much higher shot dose. –  AP

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Covaxin nod: WHO seeks more data

The World Health Organisation’s technical advisory group on Tuesday sought “additional clarifications” from Bharat Biotech for its COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin to conduct a final “risk-benefit assessment” for Emergency Use Listing of the vaccine.

The technical advisory group will now meet on November 3 for a final assessment.

Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech had submitted an EOI (Expression of Interest) to the WHO on April 19 for Emergency Use Listing (EUL) of Covaxin. – PTI

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