-The Hindu Centre to make 6 crore doses available directly for priority groups in June An aggressive, liberalised vaccination program is key to preventing another surge of COVID-19, say health experts, warning that pandemics often persist for years presenting in-surges. “We have to accept that COVID is here to stay and that we have to work at long-term management of the virus,” say doctors. The warning comes even as India has so far managed...

-The Hindu It officially objected to affixing nationality to the virus variant later The government used the term “Indian double mutant strain” in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court just days before it officially objected to affixing nationality to the virus variant. A May 9 affidavit refers to “Indian double mutant strain” while detailing the steps taken by the Indian Council of Medical Research and the National Institute of Virology to develop...

-The Telegraph Researchers will document the vaccination status of infected patients admitted with severe disease at 11 sites across the country Medical researchers have launched India’s FIRst study to measure the real-world effectiveness of Covishield and Covaxin by documenting the vaccination status of Covid-19 patients admitted with severe disease at 11 sites across the country. The study by the National Institute of Epidemiology (NIE), Chennai, a unit of the Indian Council of Medical...

-ThePrint.in Jitendra Prasad, of Patwa Toli village in Bihar’s Gaya district, runs a loom from his three-storeyed house — he makes saffron shrouds, or kafans. Gaya: Swathes of saffron shrouds have been left to dry on the terrace of 50-year-old Jitendra Prasad’s three-storeyed home at Patwa Toli town in Bihar’s Gaya district. The other congested floors house raw materials and nine powerloom machines required to manufacture the shrouds.   Prasad reluctantly admits that...

-ThePrint.in The unemployment rate for women shot up to 17%, more than double the rate for men, data from private research FIRm Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy revealed. New Delhi: Women in India suffered disproportionately because of the coronavirus outbreak last year and they are once again at the receiving end of the pandemic’s second wave, adding to the risks of economic recovery. From lower wages to job losses and slower pace of...