Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd. announced that the first consignment of imported doses of the Sputnik V vaccine that landed in India on May 1, 2021, received regulatory clearance from the Central Drugs Laboratory, Kasauli, on May 13, 2021.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on May 12 for the need to double the capacity of Covid-19 vaccine production and for fairer redistribution of the shots in the developing world, which faces new waves of the coronavirus.
New mutations, or variants, of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19 are continuing to be discovered. Health officials in Florida cited a new mutation of the Brazilian strain (P.1) that they are calling P2 or P.1.1.
India’s coronavirus crisis showed scant sign of easing on May 11, with a seven-day average of new cases at a record high and international health authorities warning the country’s variant of the virus poses a global concern.
Indian coronavirus infections and deaths held close to record daily highs on May 10, increasing calls for the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lock down the world’s second-most populous country.
India on May 8 reported a record one-day rise in Covid-19 deaths as cases surged by more than 400,000 for the third consecutive day.
Covid-19 has caused 6.9 million deaths globally, more than double what official numbers show, according to an analysis by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington School of Medicine. IHME found that Covid-19 deaths are significantly underreported in almost every country.
India gave emergency use authorization for a Covid-19 antibody drug cocktail developed by Roche and Regeneron, expanding the company’s arsenal of drugs to battle a massive second wave of infections. The decision was taken based on data filed with the U.S. regulators and the scientific opinion of a European regulatory panel, Roche’s India distribution partner for the drug, Cipla, said on May 5.
India postponed exams for trainee doctors and nurses on May 3, freeing them up to fight the world’s biggest surge in coronavirus infections, as the health system crumbles under the weight of new cases and hospitals run out of beds and oxygen.
India’s daily Covid-19 shots fell sharply from an all-time high reached in early April as domestic companies struggle to boost supplies and imports are limited, even as the country fights the world’s worst surge in infections. Pfizer said on May 3 the company was in discussions with the Indian government seeking an “expedited approval pathway” for its vaccine.
