Kiran Mazumdar Shaw tests positive for COVID-19 with 'mild symptoms'

The founder of biopharmaceutical giant- Biocon, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw has said on Monday, August 17 that she has tested positive for COVID-19. She announced the news on Twitter by saying that she has added to the count of coronavirus infections and is currently experiencing mild symptoms of the disease with a hope that it remains that way. Shaw tested positive for coronavirus when as per Johns Hopkins University tally, the global infections have surpassed 21.7 million with over 776,300 deaths. 

Just recently, founder of Biocon lauded the government for planning to strengthen the Electronic Vaccine Intelligence Network (eVIN) by digitizing the potential COVID-19 vaccine stocks and monitor the cold chain centres through an online smart application platform. The Principal Scientific Advisor Professor K Vijay Raghavan to the Government of India said that the roadmap came in the wake of seeking an effective treatment for the COVID-19 with more than 120 clinical trials that are taking place across the world with at least 19 in phase I, 11 in phase II and eight in phase II. Shaw welcomed the "good" initiative.

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Russia's COVID-19 vaccine

With spiking infections of the coronavirus across the globe, global research for the vaccine has become more desperate. While medical professionals were struggling to develop a safe and efficient vaccine for COVID-19, Russia on August 11 had become the first country to develop a vaccine and authorise it for public use.

Country's state media reported Russian President Vladimir Putin announcing the approval of coronavirus vaccine named after Earth’s first satellite ‘Sputnik’ by the health ministry. Putin had said that the COVID-19 vaccine developed in the country had undergone required tests and it gave promising results of providing lasting immunity to the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2. 

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that the UN health agency and Russian health authorities are discussing the process of possible WHO prequalification for the same. However, the United States has expressed its scepticism over Russia announcing ‘world’s first’ coronavirus vaccine and said that it is more essential to have a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine than acing the race of being the first one to produce.

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