Corona Vaccine in Pakistan (COVID19)

Corona Vaccine in Pakistan (COVID19)

Corona Vaccine in Pakistan (COVID19)

24NewsHd

Pakistan to start clinical trials of China-made coronavirus vaccine

Pakistan is going to start the clinical trials for the coronavirus vaccine that has been prepared by China and is already is in the second phase of clinical trials.Pakistan National Institute of Health (NIH) Executive Director Major General Aamer Ikram on Wednesday said China has prepared a vaccine against COVID-19 and it has been given to Pakistan for clinical testing immediately, reported 24NewsHd TV Channel.“We are hopeful that made in China vaccine against the deadly coronavirus would be launched in next three months in Pakistan,” he said. “China is providing us the vaccines for the clinical trial on an immediate basis.”NIH Executive Director said that the whole world is preparing the vaccine for the COVID-19.He said they were completing the required procedures to launch the vaccine trials in the country and soon the trial will be initiated.Beijing approved the first trial for a vaccine developed by the military-backed Academy of Military Medical Sciences and Hong Kong-listed biotech firm CanSino Bio on March 16.The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pakistan rose to 10,113 on Wednesday after new infections were confirmed in the country. Pakistan also saw another deadliest day as it was third occasion that 17 coronavirus patients died in 24-hours in Pakistan.

The National Institute of Health (NIH) 

China to conduct clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccines in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD - The National Institute of Health (NIH) in collaboration with China has decided to conduct clinical trials of inactivated novel coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines in the country, The Nation learnt on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, expert on vaccines stressed upon open trial and data sharing as non-implementation on trials protocol could be dangerous for healthy individuals picked for the trial.

Executive Director (ED) NIH Maj. General Prof. Aamer Ikram and General Manager China Sinopharm International Corporation in this regard held a correspondence for the clinical trials and agreed for expediting the documentation to start the process.

“We will be part of clinical trial with China,” said ED NIH Maj Gen Aamer Ikram to The Nation. In a letter written to the Sinopharm International, ED NIH said that that “our two organizations have already been collaborating in vaccine development in Pakistan. Through our representative HealthBee projects private limited, we would like to extend our offer for cooperation on conducting clinical trials of our recently developed inactivated Covid-19 vaccine to the National Institute of Health in our brotherly country, Pakistan”.

Coronavirus: CM Sindh says lab established at KU for tests

Sinopharm, HealthBee and NIH finalising agreements to kick start trials

The letter said that “PRC (Peoples Republic of China), Phase-I and Phase –II for clinical trial have been combined. We recommend and hope that Pakistan will adopt a similar approach through its regulatory authority. We hope that successful clinical trial in Pakistan will make it one of the few countries for the launch of Covid-19 vaccine”.

However, a pharmacist and former secretary biological drugs of DRAP Dr. Obaid Ali viewed that disclosure of preclinical data to demonstrate safety of human trial should be the first priority. He said that preclinical and clinical risk mitigation strategies need to be in place, so that those enrolled in clinical trials may not experience to any potential unreasonable risk that can be avoided.“Data is required to evaluate theoretical risk for vaccine-induced conditions, which may be worse if subject catches infection in real time during trial,” he said.

China to donate $30 million to WHO in fight against COVID-19

Meanwhile the GM China Sinopharm International Corporation Li Can, writing to NIH about the tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) said that with reference of previous correspondence through the embassy of PRC with Maj. Gen Dr. Aamir Ikram at National Institute of Health (NIH), Sinophrm considers that NIH has the necessary technical expertise and elements for conducting the clinical trial on recruited participants, through a nominated medical institutions, under Phase-I and II protocol requirements and as per clinical trial guidelines.

It said that in order to achieve the objective, we recommend that Sinopharm, HealthBee and NIH enter into tripartite MOU urgently to plan and commence the implementation of these Phase I and II combined clinical trials. This will enable Sinnopharm to share more detailed confidential information for approvals and planning.

Spain celebrates 100 days in shadow of pandemic

It also said that NIH is requested to first kindly facilitate the approval of the Ministry of National Health Services and Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) for the clinical trial. We believe that the MOU will expedite the local documentation, regulatory approvals process as well as help clearly identify the roles of various entities involved.

“Given the escalating spread of the pandemic, urgency is critical to the launch of any clinical trial in Pakistan and the subsequent introduction of the vaccine in Pakistan,” said the letter.

It further said that through our representative HealthBee Projects Private Limited we will provide full support in the provision of the supporting/regulatory documentation, distribution of trial related funding, planning of logistics, and submission of clinical trial dossier to DRAP.

Beijing slams 'certain US politicians' for meddling in South China sea issueIt added “we will work in collaboration with MIH clinical trial team and during the processing for the success of clinical trials as this endeavour is of utmost importance for our countries in accordance with the current pandemic situation”. The letter said will be grateful if an in-principal approval for our cooperation can be provided to us before progressing further. We look forward for your kind support and urgent response, after consulting the relevant ministries of the government of Pakistan

Tribune

Anti-coronavirus Vaccine News

An American doctor has claimed that his company is three to four weeks away from engineering a therapeutic antibody to combat COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the novel coronavirus.

“What my company is doing is adapting antibodies to recognise and neutralise the novel coronavirus. So this would … [be] sort of skipping what a vaccine does,” Dr Jacob Glanville, the Distributed Bio co-founder and CEO, told Fox News in an interview on Thursday.

“Instead of giving you a vaccine and waiting for it to produce an immune response, we just give you those antibodies right away. And so within about 20 minutes, that patient has the ability to neutralise the virus,” Glanville said.

​ The Aga Khan University Hospitals

During the COVID-1​​​​​9 Outbreak: We are OPEN

The Aga Khan University Hospitals, Medical Centres, Laboratories, Diagnostic Facilities, and Pharmacies remain OPEN. During this difficult time, we are committed to providing the same high-quality care for which we have always been known.

The COVID-19 pandemic is the biggest public health challenge the world has faced in recent memory. Our experts are at the forefront of the response, providing outstanding care, educating the public, advising the government and other health institutions, and conducting research to better understand the virus and the outbreak. This is an all-hands-on-deck moment, and we are acting accordingly.

GAVI Alliance

Pakistan is first South Asian country to launch vaccine against childhood pneumonia.

Millions of infants to receive the life-saving pneumococcal vaccine Lahore

Rohma Muhaimin, aged two-months, receives the new PCV-10 vaccine at the Mayo hospital in Lahore. Her father, Abdul Muhaimin, said he had been waiting eagerly for the new vaccine which will protect his daughter from the main cause of pneumonia. Copyright: GAVI Alliance 2012/Corinne Vigniel

Islamabad, 9 October 2012 — Mir Hazar Khan Bijrani, Minister, Inter Provincial Coordination (IPC) has announced today the introduction of a new vaccine to protect Pakistani children from pneumonia – a disease that takes the lives of approximately 1.3 million children globally before their fifth birthday.

With this launch, Pakistan is the first country in South Asia to introduce the pneumococcal vaccine.

"As the first country in South Asia to introduce the pneumococcal vaccine, Pakistan’s commitment to immunizing all children against vaccine preventable diseases is to be applauded," said Dan Rohrmann, UNICEF Pakistan Country Representative. "We are proud to partner with the Government of Pakistan in its efforts to innoculate millions of children against a disease that continues to take too many lives."

The latest UN estimates indicate that pneumonia accounts for 18 percent of child mortality - the primary cause of death among young children globally. In Pakistan, more than 352,000 children die before reaching their fifth birthday and almost one in five of these deaths are due to pneumonia. While the new pneumococcal vaccines cannot prevent every case of pneumonia, they do prevent a significant proportion of cases and therefore have the potential to save tens of thousands of lives from preventable sickness and death.

... we aim to reach millions of children with this lifesaving pneumococcal vaccine

Helen Evans, deputy CEO of the GAVI Alliance

aa.com

Pakistan awaits clinical trials for COVID-19 treatment

Scientists say they have prepared potential treatment with plasma obtained from recovered patients of coronavirus

KARACHI, Pakistan

Pakistani scientists are awaiting approval to start clinical trials for a treatment they claim can cure coronavirus.

A research team from Dow University of Medical Sciences, the country’s leading health institution, has devised intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) with plasma obtained from the blood of patients recovered from coronavirus, according to a statement.

The plasma teeming with anti-bodies was donated by patients after recovering from the illness.

Lab tests and animal trials were successful. The next step is to initiate clinical trials.

"This is a very important breakthrough in the war against COVID-19," professor Shaukat Ali, the head of the research team, told Anadolu Agency.

This way of treatment is safe, low risk and highly effective against coronavirus, Ali said.

He urged recovered coronavirus patients to donate blood as their plasma is the vital "raw material" for this treatment.

So far, over 1,000 coronavirus patients have recovered out of more than 5,000 reported cases in the country.

This method is also a type of passive immunization, he added.

Many countries across the world including Turkey, France and the U.S. are holding clinical trials for plasma therapy or transfusion to fight the novel virus.

However, the Pakistani doctor said, the treatment they have devised is safer and more effective than plasma transfusion as it does not carry the undesired component of blood like plasma proteins, potential bacterial and viral pathogens.

These treatments have globally been effectively used to curb other viral epidemics like MERS, SARS and Ebola, he said.

Scientists world over are grappling to find a cure for COVID-19 which has claimed over 114,000 lives globally after it appeared China last December.

More than 1.85 million people have been infected worldwide, while an upward of 434,000 have made a recovery, according to U.S.-based John Hopkins University.

Daily time

Two coronavirus vaccine candidates enter human trials, 60 in pre-clinical stage: WHO

Two candidate vaccines for COVID-19 have entered the first phase of human clinical trials and another 60 candidate vaccines are in pre-clinical studies, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed.

The vaccine candidate jointly developed by CanSino Biological Inc and Beijing Institute of Biotechnology uses the non-replicating viral vector as the platform, same as the non-corona candidates like Ebola, to develop a vaccine with a ‘Adenovirus Type 5’ candidate, a draft landscape of COVID-19 vaccine candidates brought out today.

Sources say adenoviruses are common viruses that cause pneumonia and can deliver potential antigens to stimulate the production of antibodies that work against the disease.

However, the other candidate, which has entered the first phase of human trials is from the US-based biotech firm Moderna. The medical firm joined hands with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to develop this potential COVID-19 vaccine. This lipid nanoparticle (LNP) encapsulated mRNA candidate vaccine uses an RNA platform with multiple vaccine candidates.

As per the researchers, in terms of this kind of candidate vaccines, the virus’s genetic information is decoded from the DNA to make proteins.

The messenger RNA or mRNA acts as an intermediary between the genetic information in DNA and the amino acid sequence of proteins, which gives cells orders to generate proteins to fight against the viruses. But here the fact is such vaccines have not yet been approved to use on human.

It should be noted that as China looking for success in developing Coronavirus vaccine, the country said that it wants to carry out additional vaccine trials in other countries which are devastated by Coronavirus pandemic if the ongoing trial in Wuhan proves it is safe and effective.

World Asia

Covid-19: Pakistani doctors get approval for plasma therapy clinical trial

Islamabad: With coronavirus vaccine at least 12-18 months away and sharp rise in cases, Pakistan is beginning clinical trials of a potentially promising therapy to treat patients infected with Covid-19.

Pakistan’s Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has approved convalescent plasma (CP) treatment for patients with serious Covid-19 infections “after meeting set standards of quality and safety” DRAP chief executive officer Asim Rauf told Gulf News.

On Tuesday, Pakistan’s National Institute of Blood Diseases and Bone Marrow Transplantation (NIBD) said that it has received official approval to conduct clinical trials for passive immunisation. NIBD has also secured research grant from pharmaceutical company, Hilton Pharma, and other philanthropists. NIBD’s chairman and hematologist Dr Tahir Shamsi was one of the first to suggest the introduction of plasma therapy to Pakistan government.

NIBD in Karachi is collaborating with University of Health Sciences (Lahore), Liaquat University of Medical & Health Science (Jamshoro) and Sindh Blood Transfusion Authority, to introduce plasma-based treatments in Pakistan. LUMS Medical University in Lahore and Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) in Karachi are also aggressively pursuing plasma therapy under the supervision of doctors and scientists.

GOVT OF PAKISTAN

See the Realtime Pakistan and Worldwide COVID-19 situation!

The coronavirus, or COVID-19, is inciting panic for a number of reasons. It's a new virus, meaning no one has immunity, and there is no vaccine. Its novelty means that scientists aren't sure yet how it behaves they have little history to go on.

nytimes

God Will Protect Us’: Coronavirus Spreads Through an Already Struggling Pakistan

While Pakistan’s government and military are at odds over how to respond, doctors are protesting to get equipment and more testing, and clerics are refusing to limit mosque gatherings.

KARACHI, Pakistan — Doctors are refusing to show up for work. Clerics are refusing to close their mosques. And despite orders to stay at home, children continue to pack streets across Pakistan to play cricket, their parents unwilling to quarantine them in crowded homes.

Pakistan is facing its biggest challenge ever: how to mobilize its broken state as the number of coronavirus cases rapidly spreads in the world’s fifth most populous country.

More than ever, the epidemic is showcasing weaknesses in the government, and the tensions between it and the country’s powerful military. Many within the country’s clerical establishment have refused to help, rejecting calls to limit mosque gatherings and bringing together at least 150,000 clerics from around the world this month in a religious gathering that helped spread the virus.

By Thursday afternoon, Pakistan’s cases had risen to 1,098, up from some 250 a week ago. Eight deaths have been reported. But many fear that the real numbers are much higher because of a lack of testing and, in some cases, suppressed information.

LIVE UPDATESFollow our global coverage of the coronavirus outbreak here.

Already, Pakistan was struggling to provide electricity, water and adequate health care to its 220 million people. Diseases that have been controlled elsewhere, like rabies and polio, still persist here.

In recent weeks, as the coronavirus’s march across the globe was intensifying, Prime Minister Imran Khan played down its dangers. Pakistani officials bragged that the country was virus-free, but little was being done to set up testing anywhere.

RS.News

Pakistan Working on Its Own Coronavirus Vaccine

Pakistan is working on its own coronavirus vaccine under the task force formed by the federal minister for Science and Technology, Fawad Chaudhry. The minister has made a committee termed as “Scientific Task Force on COVID-19” to coordinate research on the vir On his social media handle, the minister informed about the formation of the committee. us in Pakistan.

The committee is headed by Professor Atta ur Rehman. The task force has been asked to develop a vaccine for the coronavirus which has taken nearly 19,000 lives across the world.

The committee has also got other members, Prof Iqbal Chaudhry, Prof Dr Javed Akram, Prof Al Fareed Zafar, Prof Mariam Riaz Tarar, Prof Dr Shazna Khalid and Prof Dr Khalid Khan.

The 7-member committee would also be asking for input from the research institutes across the world on the making of the coronavirus vaccine.

The task force would directly be reporting to the Ministry of Science and Technology.

The Ministry would also be introducing a Science Data Research Foundation to ensure that other significant questions are also answered.

Propakistani

US Includes Pakistan Among Countries Developing COVID-19 Vaccine

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) of the United States has included Pakistan in the list of the countries working to formulate a cure for the novel coronavirus.  On Wednesday, NLM approved a 20-member team of the Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad to derive the cure for the deadly virus, CEO of the medical college Dr. Umer Farooq told the media.

They [NLM] praised Pakistani experts and based on the credentials we were allowed to start testing for the cure. Groups of 25 people will be made initially for the trials.

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Dr. Farooq said that they will test azithromycin and chloroquine on the first group, and only chloroquine on the second group. The third group will be treated with traditional medicine.

Volunteers for testing will be selected on the basis of their age and severity of the disease, he said, adding that patients suffering from heart disease and other major complications will not be considered.

After approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the USA, we can hope for a cure for the coronavirus to be available for the world.

Last month, FDA had authorized two antimalarial drugs, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, to be used as a potential COVID-19 treatment. While announcing the testing of the drugs, President Donald Trump touted the move as a game-changer in the fight against coronavirus pandemic.

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Firm Backed by Bill Gates Starts Human Trials for First-Ever DNA Vaccine for Coronavirus

Though FDA has allowed doctors to prescribe antimalarial drugs to young and adult patients with COVID-19, scientists have warned against the use of unproven treatments.

Many researchers and infectious disease experts in the United States have asked people to be cautious until larger clinical trials validate its use.

PARHLO.com

China’s Clinical Trials Of COVID-19 Vaccine In Pakistan Have Upset Indians

A Chinese pharmaceutical company has invited the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, to collaborate in conducting clinical trials of its recently developed inactivated vaccine for COVID-19 in Pakistan.

However, as soon as the news broke, many people weren’t too happy with the news. Especially, our neighbors. Many Indians took to Twitter and criticized the decision. They feel the Chinese are treating Pakistanis as their ‘lab rats’. Well, we agree to disagree with their opinion since who knows if their experiment gets successful? And, in that case, Pakistan will be the first country across the globe to get coronavirus vaccine.

NIH Executive Director Maj Gen Dr. Aamer Ikram said the benefit from the clinical trials in Pakistan would be that if the vaccine proves to be successful, the country would be able to procure it on a high-priority basis.

A Pakistani journalist and TV Anchor Saadia Afzaal broke the news last night which created chaos on social media. However, the Chinese COVID-19 vaccine will not only be provided to Pakistan but Pakistan will be among the first few countries to receive it.

But, it will all start after the clearance of several laws. It has to be approved by the ethics committee and others.

Twitterati shows resistance over China’s coronavirus vaccine

Scientists across the globe are working overtime to find a cure and vaccine for the COVID-19 pandemic. Any vaccine for the same looks unlikely before the end of this year. But, there’s always hope and of course, someone has to take the risk to save millions of lives across the globe.

But, there are always a few people who try to spread negativity in everything. Indians are always one of them.

Coronavirus: first person injected with trial vaccine

The World Health Organization says that at least 20 coronavirus vaccines are currently in development in the global race for a cure.

The first human trial, by the Boston-based biotech firm Moderna, is already underway.

"Going from not even knowing that this virus was out there, which we then identified it as being a cause of infection in China in January, to have any vaccine that we can actually initiate a clinical trial in about two months is unprecedented," said Dr Lisa Jackson, the Kaiser Permanente investigator leading the first human trial.

This extraordinary speed is thanks in large part to early Chinese efforts to sequence the genetic material of the virus that caused COVID-19.

China shared that information in early January, allowing researchers around the world to replicate the virus and study how it invades human cells and infects people.

Jennifer Haller was the first person to be injected with the trial vaccine. "Everybody is feeling so helpless right now,” Haller said. “And I realised that there was something that I could do to help, and I'm excited to be here.”

Experts say it could still take about 18 months for any potential vaccine to become available to the general public.

Last week, China also approved the start of clinical trials on a vaccine.

Watch our report edited by Al Jazeera NewsFeed’s Katya Bohdan.

unicef.org

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): What parents should know

What is a ‘novel’ coronavirus?

A novel coronavirus (CoV) is a new strain of coronavirus.

The disease caused by the novel coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, China, has been named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) – ‘CO’ stands for corona, ‘VI’ for virus, and ‘D’ for disease. Formerly, this disease was referred to as ‘2019 novel coronavirus’ or ‘2019-nCoV.’

The COVID-19 virus is a new virus linked to the same family of viruses as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and some types of common cold.

COVID-19 has been described as a pandemic by the World Health Organization. What does that mean?

Characterizing COVID-19 as a pandemic is not an indication that the virus has become deadlier. Rather, it’s an acknowledgement of the disease’s geographical spread.

UNICEF has been preparing and responding to the epidemic of COVID-19 around the world, knowing that the virus could spread to children and families in any country or community. UNICEF will continue working with governments and our partners to stop transmission of the virus, and to keep children and their families safe.

There’s a lot of information online. What should I do?

There are a lot of myths and misinformation about coronavirus being shared online – including on how COVID-19 spreads, how to stay safe, and what to do if you’re worried about having contracted the virus.So, it’s important to be careful where you look for information and advice. This explainer contains information and recommendations on how to reduce the risk of infection, whether you should take your child out of school, whether it’s safe for pregnant women to breastfeed, and precautions to take when traveling. UNICEF has also launched a portal where you can find more information and guidance about COVID-19. In addition, the WHO has a useful section addressing some of the most frequently asked questions.

It’s also advisable to keep up to date on travel, education and other guidance provided by your national or local authorities for the latest recommendations and news.

How does the COVID-19 virus spread?

The virus is transmitted through direct contact with respiratory droplets of an infected person (generated through coughing and sneezing), and touching surfaces contaminated with the virus. The COVID-19 virus may survive on surfaces for several hours, but simple disinfectants can kill it.

What are the symptoms of coronavirus?

Symptoms can include fever, cough and shortness of breath. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia or breathing difficulties. More rarely, the disease can be fatal.

These symptoms are similar to the flu (influenza) or the common cold, which are a lot more common than COVID-19. This is why testing is required to confirm if someone has COVID-19. It’s important to remember that key prevention measures are the same – frequent hand washing, and respiratory hygiene (cover your cough or sneeze with a flexed elbow or tissue, then throw away the tissue into a closed bin). Also, there is a vaccine for the flu – so remember to keep yourself and your child up to date with vaccinations.

Does COVID-19 affect children?

This is a new virus and we do not know enough yet about how it affects children or pregnant women. We know it is possible for people of any age to be infected with the virus, but so far there have been relatively few cases of COVID-19 reported among children. The virus is fatal in rare cases, so far mainly among older people with pre-existing medical conditions.

What should I do if my child has symptoms of COVID-19?

Seek medical attention, but remember that it’s flu season in the Northern Hemisphere, and symptoms of COVID-19 such as cough or fever can be similar to those of the flu, or the common cold – which are a lot more frequent.

Continue to follow good hand and respiratory hygiene practices like regular handwashing, and keep your child up to date with vaccinations – so that your child is protected against other viruses and bacteria causing diseases.

As with other respiratory infections like the flu, seek care early if you or your child are having symptoms, and try to avoid going to public places (workplace, schools, public transport), to prevent it spreading to others.

GOV.UK

COVID-19 Exceptional Travel Advisory Notice

As countries respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, including travel and border restrictions, the FCO advises British nationals against all but essential international travel. Any country or area may restrict travel without notice. If you live in the UK and are currently travelling abroad, you are strongly advised to return now, where and while there are still commercial routes available. Many airlines are suspending flights and many airports are closing, preventing flights from leaving.