The Law Minister on 18th Aug,2020 held a press conf. that the Supreme Court has cleared the PM  Cares Fund https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/covid-19-sc-refuses-to-direct-transfer-of-contributions-made-to-pm-cares-to-ndrf/articleshow/77606765.cms . The Fund, law minister said,  is a registered public Trust based on "voluntary contributions", and is Transparent, and registered.  https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/news/nda-govt-has-not-faced-even-a-single-accusation-of-corruption-ravi-shankar-prasad-on-sc-order-related-to-pm-cares-fund/videoshow/77612532.cms 

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/pmo-denies-rti-plea-seeking-info-on-pm-cares/article32369180.ece  however tell us .. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has denied a Right to Information request related to the PM-CARES Fund on the grounds that providing it would “disproportionately divert the resources of the office.

Read more …

Editorial with Sujit Nair: Is PM CARES Fund Transparent??? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5iEMHX1mQE  25 Sept 2021

"An affidavit was filed before the Delhi High Court on behalf of the PM-CARES Fund Trust. The affidavit claimed that the fund is not a govt fund and the amount received does not go in the Consolidated Fund of India. That PM Cares fund is not created by or under the Indian Constitution or any other statute. Who filed the affidavit on behalf of PM Cares fund? the Under Secretary at Prime Minister's Office. It further stated that there is no control of either the Central Government or the State Government in the functioning of the PM CARES Trust. Although, it mentioned what the PM Cares fund website also says, that it is a public charitable trust.
The affidavit was filed in response to a plea seeking declaration that PM CARES Fund is ""State"" under Article 12 of the Constitution. Petitioner, Samayak Gangwal, also challenged the PMO's order rejecting his RTI application stating that PM CARES was not a ""public authority"" within the meaning of Section 2(h) of the RTI Act. In its reply, the PM CARES Fund has objected to the maintainability of the petition, stating that alternative statutory remedies are available to the Petitioner under the RTI Act, 2005.

PM CARES FUND: Suspicions deepen as Govt says its not a Government Fund | Overview  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaMeaADS-A8 
25 Sept 2021 

How come the PM cares fund is not a government fund? I MODI I PM CARES FUND I SUPREME COURT  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey2Qxd2koaI  Sep 23, 2021  What is the point of the government saying that PM Cares Fund is not government? How can it call it a non-government fund when it is in the name of the prime minister and three union ministers are its trustees? What is the intention of the government behind calling it a non-government fund? Why does it not want to be transparent about this fund? Included in the discussion with Dr. Mukesh Kumar are-N. K. Singh, Ashok Wankhede, Dinesh Dwivedi and Satish K. Singh

https://www.livemint.com/news/india/dear-prime-minister-opposition-parties-write-to-modi-seek-free-mass-covid-vaccination-suspension-of-central-vista-project/amp-11620832349529.html?fbclid=IwAR3NLcAsG-M-KCAHfQ0ViKnJrvjfPWPtWH_XcjAp_4jKMOt46YEFU8mflyE

The list of do-s the opposition leaders have suggested :

Central procurement of vaccines from all available sources - global and domestic.
Immediate free, universal mass vaccination campaign
Compulsory licensing to expand domestic vaccine production
Spending the ₹35,000 crore budgetary allocation for vaccines
Stopping the Central Vista construction and using the money for oxygen and vaccines
Releasing all money held in the "unaccounted private trust fund", PMCares to buy vaccines, oxygen and medical equipment
₹6,000 per month for the unemployed
Free distribution of foodgrain to the needy
Repeal of farm laws to protect farmers falling victim to Covid

India May Have Reached Covid Endemicity With Local—But Not Severe—Ups and Downs: Soumya Swaminathan  https://youtu.be/fy3wZ7oe7Bk?t=88 Aug 24, 2021

In an interview that will re-assure a lot of people and to many sound like good news, the Chief Scientist of the World Health Organisation has said “India could have reached some sort of stage of endemicity” in terms of the overall Covid 19 situation. “That’s what seems to be happening,” said Dr. Soumya Swaminathan.” “It’s very feasible we may continue like this with a few local ups and downs” but they are unlikely to be severe and certainly not like the devastating second wave of April-may. The endemic stage is when a population learns to live with a virus. It’s very different from the epidemic stage when the virus overwhelms a population.
The latest 7 day average of daily cases is now under 32,000, a fall of 12% compared to the week before. The R No. is said to be 0.9. This is very different to earlier weeks when cases were plateauing at 40,000 a day and the R No had crossed 1.1.

Soumi Swaminathan explains WHO position on booster dose.  https://youtu.be/fy3wZ7oe7Bk?t=1627 

Interim statement on COVID-19 vaccine booster doses https://www.who.int/news/item/10-08-2021-interim-statement-on-covid-19-vaccine-booster-doses 

WHO Calls For A Delay In Booster Shots To Prioritize Under-Vaccinated Countries https://www.npr.org/2021/08/23/1030248514/who-calls-for-a-delay-in-booster-shots-to-prioritize-under-vaccinated-countries
August 23, 2021 

The head of the World Health Organization has called on countries to delay giving out booster shots of the COVID-19 vaccine until nations with low vaccination rates can inoculate more of their population.

During a news conference Monday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus again suggested that giving out booster shots in countries with already high vaccination rates could lead to more dangerous coronavirus variants appearing across the globe.

The Obscene Obstacles to Global Vaccine Distribution Aug 6, 2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thA_5jVQddM Lori Wallach, of Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch, and Jayati Ghosh, economics professor at UMass Amherst, discuss how first world countries are protecting pharma companies’ exorbitant profits, at the expense of vaccinating people living in the Global South and thereby also endangering everyone in the world.

Here's a toolkit!! https://rethinktrade.org/toolkit/no-big-pharma-monopolies-on-covid-vaccines-or-treatments-wto-trips-waiver-now/  

Pharma companies are restricting production - Jayati Ghosh.. many of the technology development has been funded or supported from public funds..

https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/vaccine-monopolies-make-cost-vaccinating-world-against-covid-least-5-times-more 29th July 2021

https://www.gavi.org/covax-facility

https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/covax-explained 

What is COVAX? COVAX is the vaccines pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator

The ACT Accelerator is a ground-breaking global collaboration to accelerate the development, production, and equitable access to COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines.

Gavi is co-leading COVAX, the vaccines pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator. This involves coordinating the COVAX Facility, a global risk-sharing mechanism for pooled procurement and equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.

https://www.gavi.org/sites/default/files/covid/covax/Gavi-COVAX-AMC-Investment-Opportunity.pdf 

In times like these, global solidarity is key. We call on governments, manufacturers and the private
sector to ensure equitable access to supply and distribution of vaccines through COVAX so that no
one is left behind

'Impossible to Fully Vaccinate All Adults in 2021, Govt's Mistakes to Blame'  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WEGkPu-07E Aug 5, 2021  Prof. Ramakumar first points out that the government has failed to meet the target it set in its June affidavit to the Supreme Court of making available 51.6 crore doses by the 31st of July. Even though Dr. V. K. Paul claimed at a recent press conference (3/8) that the target had been met, a Health Ministry press release dated the 31st of July confirms that supply was only 48.7 crore, a shortfall of 5.6%, whilst actual consumption i.e. jabs given to people was only 45.8%, a shortfall of 11.2%. 

How many vaccines is India making? The government has many answers to one question https://qz.com/india/2037229/how-many-vaccines-are-bharat-biotech-and-serum-institute-making/  

India’s vaccine targets and mismatch with production

Since January, the Modi government has announced several vaccination targets. In its latest affidavit to the supreme court (pdf) on June 26, the government said it would administer a cumulative 516 million doses till the end of July. Till today (July 23), it has administered a little over 418 million doses.  “The fact is that the supply of vaccines remains considerably lower than the demand for vaccines,” R Ramakumar, professor at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai, wrote in The Indian Express newspaper. “Firstly, India’s vaccine production capacity is not rising as is regularly claimed by the government of India. Secondly, the government’s projections for vaccine availability are consistently inflated and unrealistic,” he added.

Vaccine Divide A Matter Of Concern," WHO Chief Scientist Tells NDTV | Reality Check https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OrfoFK0UKw 
Aug 5, 2021  It is perhaps going to be an endemic respiratory virus.  It may start getting localised and happen in areas where people have less immunity. 

Vaccine Gap is huge. Only way this is resolved if the manufacturers work with COVAX to ensure covergae of the vulnerable.. Dose sharing required..  India seems to be in a better position, but they may face matrial shortages which have to be imported.. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/washington-post-live/2021/06/10/transcript-global-vaccine-divide-with-gavi-vaccine-alliance-chair-jos-manuel-barroso-unilever-ceo-alan-jope/   The original goal was to procure and distribute 2 billion doses of vaccine by the end of 2021. At this point, COVAX has only shipped around 81 million vaccines....What Management of COVAX tells me is that it's possible--beginning next year, most likely--to achieve that goal. But let me explain why it was not possible to do it. For basically two reasons. One is that one of our most important suppliers is India, and India is the biggest producer of vaccines in the world. And as you know, India is facing a terrible, dramatic pandemic. And so, we fully support also the efforts of India to look for their own people. So--but that has been a delay in supply of vaccines and deliveries.

Besides that--let's also be completely frank and honest--when we as COVAX--so Gavi plus the others--we have launched COVAX--what happened was that the richest countries had already locked in most of the supply. That's the reality. So of course, there was less to distribute through the only multilateral scheme we have today to distribute vaccines in the world, that is COVAX. 

'Wildly unfair': UN says 130 countries have not received a single Covid vaccine dose Feb 2021  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/18/wildly-unfair-un-says-130-countries-have-not-received-a-single-covid-vaccine-dose
UN secretary general calls for ‘global vaccine taskforce’ led by G20 in what he says is a ‘moral test’ of world community

Pfizer, BioNTech make huge pledge at G20 summit to address COVID vaccine inequality Reuters  https://www.geo.tv/latest/351231-pfizer-biontech-make-huge-pledge-to-address-covid-vaccine-inequality-g20 

Friday May 21, 2021

Can Covid-19 Effects Last Long Even After You've tested Negative? Here's What WHO Says! | Long Covid 

Long COVID : dont know what this post COVID syndrome is?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SegdpqQQPY&t=164s  Help should be multidisciplinary in nature..

Post COVID-19 condition https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0p-FOLJH8Ag  If you have recovered from COVID-19 but are still experiencing certain symptoms you could have post COVID-19 condition or "long COVID". What are these symptoms? How long do they last and are there any treatment options? Dr Janet Diaz explains in Science in 5.

 Long-Term Effects https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/long-term-effects.html  

Prevention: The best way to prevent post-COVID conditions is by getting vaccinated against COVID-19 as soon as you can. COVID-19 vaccination is recommended for all people ages 12 years and older, including if you had COVID-19 or a post-COVID condition.

One crore people suffer from long Covid in India: Study  KANIZA GARARI https://www.asianage.com/india/all-india/120721/one-crore-people-suffer-from-long-covid-in-india-study.html   Jul 12, 2021

An estimated one crore people in India are suffering from post-Covid or long Covid symptoms, according to a random online survey carried out by the Asian Institute of Gastroenterology (AIG).

The survey conducted among 5,000 people and 2,038 infected patients revealed that they had to visit hospitals again for post-Covid symptoms. There are 41.8 percent patients who complained of persistent symptoms like fatigue (64.15 percent), body pain (31 percent) and gastrointestinal symptoms (25 percent). It was found that fatigue, weakness and sleeplessness were reported not only in serious cases but also in mild cases. 

WHO channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/who 

Playlist on COVID 19 Vaccines  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9S6xGsoqIBXHSDMCp8CjOmhULeQnJ_7J 

COVID-19 Q&A #AskWHO live series  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9S6xGsoqIBWoRPNDwI_qFOb-j3xcNOXR 

WHO’s Science in 5 on COVID-19 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0p-FOLJH8Ag&list=PL9S6xGsoqIBXRQzSDOfFb13iPrbL8fgy1 

Delta variant:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVneDKDuOhg  WHO’s Dr Maria Van Kerkhove 

Delta variant and vaccines  https://youtu.be/S_SJZBJgcog?t=35  Do the current batch of approved vaccines protect us from the Delta variant? What is the level of protection? If you can still get infected even after being fully vaccinated, then why should we vaccinate? WHO’s Chief Scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan  says data shows that those who have been vaccinated, show less severe illness even in the case of Delta variants. None of the vaccines that we have are 100% protective, but chances are that even if you get infected you will get mild or no symptoms at all.