Health

New Delhi, Dec 16 (PTI) India dropped one spot to 131 among 189 countries in the 2020 human development index, according to a report released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Human Development Index is the measure of a nation's health, education, and standards of living.

15 Dec 2020; MEMO: Iran will be ready to administer a locally produced coronavirus vaccine on high-risk patients by July, if the results of the vaccine's clinical trials are positive in January, a health ministry official said.

"Four local companies are currently working to produce a vaccine for coronavirus and the companies' products will begin the clinical trials phase in early January." a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Dr. Sima Sadat Lari, said in a statement yesterday.

Washington, Dec 15 (AP-PTI) A crush of sign-ups expected Tuesday on the last day of open enrolment for HealthCare.gov could help solidify the standing of Obamacare as an improbable survivor in the Donald Trump years.

In 36 states that use HealthCare.gov,- December 15 is deadline day for coverage that starts January 1, while another 14 states and Washington, D.C., have later dates. Analysts and advocates who follow the annual insurance sign-ups say interest has gotten stronger with the coronavirus pandemic gripping the nation.

New Delhi, Dec 14 (PTI) Over 1,000 dengue cases have been recorded in the national capital this year till date, with 338 of those being reported in November, according to official data.

The number of cases of dengue this year has been lower compared to the situation in previous years.

According to data shared on Monday by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), the nodal agency that tabulates data on vector-borne diseases for the city, 1,030 cases of dengue has been recorded in Delhi till December 12.

(AP) --- When Brittany Palomo was hired as a nurse in March, her parents tried to talk her out of it, fearful of the fast-spreading coronavirus. All the more reason, she told them, to start the career that had been her long-held dream.

The pandemic, though, is a nightmare -- one that has now claimed 300,000 lives in the U.S. and counting.

“Wake up, my little girl, wake up!” Palomo’s mother, Maria Palomo Salinas, screamed, her grief echoing through a Harlingen, Texas, hospital, when her daughter died of COVID-19 complications around 2 a.m. on a Saturday in late November.

PORTAGE, Michigan (AP) — The first of many freezer-packed COVID-19 vaccine vials made their way to distribution sites across the United States on Sunday, as the nation’s pandemic deaths approached the horrifying new milestone of 300,000.

13 Dec 2020; AA:  Bangladesh on Sunday signed a procurement contract with Serum Institute of India, which is producing doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, an official said.

Bangladesh will get five million shots each month after the vaccine is approved for mass use, Bangladesh Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque said at the official ceremony held in the capital Dhaka.

Doses are expected to first arrive in January, he added.

13 Dec 2020; AA:  The phase two trials of the Turkish-made COVID-19 vaccine will begin on Dec. 25, Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced on late Saturday.

"In parallel with the world, 16 different vaccine studies are carried out in our country. One of them has completed the pre-clinical period and started human trials. Phase two study will begin on Dec. 25," he told the lawmakers during the 2021 budget debate in parliament.

Koca said that the vaccine's production for phase two started on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- The United States reported over 244,000 new COVID-19 cases in a single day on Friday, setting a gloomy new record as the country is preparing distribution of the first COVID-19 vaccine to states.

A total of 244,011 new cases and 3,013 deaths were reported across the country on Friday, according to data updated Saturday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), setting new world records.

BANGKOK, December 11. /TASS/. AstraZeneca, a British-Swedish pharmaceutical company, will produce 200 million doses of its anti-coronavirus vaccine in Thailand next year with the help of Siam Bioscience, director of Thailand’s National Vaccine Institute Dr. Nakorn Premsri, said in an interview with TASS.