Coronavirus update: Phase 3 trial for Oxford vaccine likely to begin in India August 22

The third phase of clinical trials of the vaccine candidate for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from Oxford University, UK is likely to begin in India August 22, with 100 people being vaccinated on the first day, according to news channel India Today TV.

• There was a decline in the positivity rate for the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19, for the first time in India since May 2020, said a report by news daily Indian Express August 20.
• The positivity rate — the percentage of people who test positive for a virus against those tested — touched nine per cent August 9 and declined steadily since. This rate fell to 8.72 per cent as of August 18, the report said.
• The R-value of the country was also at 1.06, meaning every 100 people transmit the virus to 106. This number was also not as low as this since the outbreak started in March, the report said.
• The results for Delhi’s second serosurvey are expected to be officially released August 20.
• Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison backtracked on his earlier statement saying any potential vaccine against COVID-19 would be “mandatory”, said a report by The Guardian August 19.
• Morrison said the aim was to get 95 per cent of the population inoculated and that he expected it would be compulsory, except on medical grounds, said the report.
• Russia wants to jointly produce its ‘Sputnik V’ vaccine with India, Kirill Dmitriev — the chief executive officer of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, a sovereign fund by the Russian government — said in an interview to India Today TV.
• India added 69,196 fresh COVID-19 cases August 19, according to private tracker covid19india.org. The total number of cases reached 2,837,749, with 54,004 deaths and 685,885 active cases August 20.
• There are now 22,581,537 COVID-19 cases, with 791,012 deaths across the world, according to tracker worldometers.info. There are now 6,487,822 active cases, with 15,302,703 recovered from the disease.

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