作者： bharat.cn

With an increase of 20,723 new Coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, India’s Covid-19 count soared to 6,17,833 by late Thursday, PTI news agency reported.

However, the Health Ministry said 19,148 new coronavirus cases were reported in the last 24 hours.

According to the PTI tally, based on the data provided by various state governments, the death toll across India due to Coronavirus has reached 18,204, with 365 new deaths reported in the last 24 hours.

Of 6,17,833 Coronavirus cases, 3,77,945 have been discharged or cured.

With 434 deaths reported from across the country, the death toll due to the disease has gone up to 17,834.

The Health Ministry said there are 1,32,912 more cured and discharged patients than active COVID-19 cases in the country.

Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has said that around 91 lakh COVID-19 tests have been conducted across India so far and soon this figure will touch one crore.

Urging people not to panic, he said that the recovery rate has been improving and the doubling rate was 21-22 days. The recovery rate at present is 59.52 per cent.

Maharashtra continues to have the largest number of coronavirus cases. The state’s count stands at 1,80,298 including  79,091 active cases, 93,154 cured patients and 8,053 deaths due to the disease.

Maharashtra government had earlier extended lockdown till July 31 to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Tamil Nadu with 98,392 reported cases, including 41,047 active cases, is the second-worst affected state.  The state has seen the death of 321 persons due to the disease.

Delhi has reported 92,175 cases with 63,007 patients cured and discharged and  2,864 deaths due to the disease.

Karnataka saw 1,502 new COVID-19 cases till 5 pm today taking the total number of cases in the state to 18,016.  Nineteen persons lost their lives due to the disease in the state according to figures for the last 24 hours released on Thursday.  

Punjab’s COVID-19 case count has reached 5,784 with 120 new positive cases reported today.

Uttar Pradesh has 6,709 active cases while 16,629 patients have been cured and discharged so far. The state’s COVID-19 count stands at 24,056 with 718 deaths reported due to the disease.

Madhya Pradesh has reported 13,861 COVID-19 cases of which 10,655 have been cured or discharged and 581 persons have died.

Gujarat’s count of cases stands at 33,232 with 24,030 cured and discharged patients, 7,335 active cases and 1,867 deaths.

Haryana has reported 14,941 COVID-19 cases with 10,499 patients having been cured and discharged. The number of active cases in the state stands at 4,202 with 240 have died due to the disease.

In Rajasthan,  14,574 patients have been cured and discharged. The state has 3,317 active COVID-19 cases and 421 persons have died due to the disease.

全球最大疫苗生产商印度血清研究所（Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd.）将开始生产新型冠状病毒疫苗。将以授权生产方式，在2020年内首先生产4亿剂。新冠疫苗的供给量不足令人担忧，以发达国家为中心，出现“圈占”的趋势。随着具有低成本量产经验的印度企业涉足生产，新兴市场国家也将易于采购疫苗。

 　　

　　要在防止疫情扩大和预防“第2波”疫情发生的同时恢复经济，疫苗将发挥重要作用，因此制药企业和研究机构将加快开发。世界卫生组织（WHO）的统计显示，截至6月29日有17种疫苗推进到以人为对象的临床试验阶段。通过动物确认安全性的临床前阶段为132种。

 　　

　　英国牛津大学等已授权

 　　

　　印度血清研究所将生产的是英国牛津大学和大型制药企业阿斯利康（AstraZeneca）推进临床试验的疫苗。两者力争9月获得政府批准，使疫苗走向实用化。阿斯利康5月宣布将生产10亿剂疫苗，但最近把生产计划翻一番，提高至20亿剂。承担新增10亿剂生产任务的就是印度血清研究所。

对于牛津大学和阿斯利康的疫苗开发，美国最多提供12亿美元，其中至少3亿剂疫苗需供应美国。印度血清研究所与阿斯利康等的合约内容没有公开，但印度血清研究所除了印度本国之外，还将主要向亚洲和非洲等新兴市场国家供给。

   

　　该公司表示，疫苗价格“或为每剂1000卢比（约合人民币92元）左右”。在印度血清研究所的产品中，以肺炎球菌疫苗为例，能以其他厂商66分之1的价格进行供给，新冠疫苗的价格也可能大幅低于阿斯利康自身生产的疫苗。

                                                     

　　印度血清研究所的首席执行官（CEO）阿达尔·波纳瓦拉（Adar Poonawalla）针对新冠疫苗表示，“决定进行60亿卢比规模的设备投资”。需要2～3年时间建设，因此首先将借用印度国内的现有设备启动生产。最初产能为1个月200万～300万剂。将分阶段增加产能，在2020年内生产4亿剂，到2021年底合计生产10亿剂。

 　　

　　医药品通常在确定实用化之后才启动生产。此次由于全球存在希望尽快大量确保疫苗的需求，将在获批之前启动生产。

 　　

　　引人关注的是“数量和速度”

 　　

　　目前还有其他企业决定启动新冠疫苗生产，但印度血清研究所在速度和数量方面显得突出。美国生物医药新创企业Moderna的疫苗也在推进临床试验，承担生产的瑞士龙沙（Lonza）计划生产10亿剂，但没有公布时间。美国辉瑞则表示“2021年达到数亿剂”。

疫苗是向人体注入削弱致病性的病毒或部分灭活病毒，借此形成抵抗力。在量产疫苗时，要大量培养病毒，还要防止病毒泄露到外部，这需要先进的管理技术。严格的品质检查也不可缺少，还需要符合药品制造的严格国际标准，涉足疫苗生产的门槛很高。

  　　

　　按金额计算全球的疫苗市场份额，美国默克和辉瑞等4大企业达到8成。另一方面，印度血清研究所则以低价疫苗为主力，向约170个国家出口白喉、破伤风等3种混合疫苗和卡介苗（BCG Vaccine）等。世卫组织的统计显示，按数量计算全球的疫苗市场规模，达到每年35亿剂（2018年，不含军用和季节性流感等）。印度血清研究所的年产能为15亿剂，被视为全球最大制造商。

Thirteen people were killed and six injured on Tuesday in an explosion at a medical clinic in the north of the Iranian capital Tehran, Fars news agency reported, quoting a state official.

The blast was triggered by a gas leak, Tehran Deputy Governor Hamid Reza Goudarzi told state television.

Ten women and three men died in the explosion, Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi said on the TV.

A video posted on social media appeared to show multiple explosions at the north Tehran site and another showed firefighters using a ladder to access the roof of the building.

Reuters could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos.

A fire touched off by the blast has been extinguished, Jalal Maleki, the Tehran Fire Department spokesman said on state TV.

The clinic, which had 25 employees inside at the time of the blast, primarily carries out light surgeries and medical imaging, Harirchi said.

Last week, an explosion occurred close to a sensitive military site near Tehran which the defence ministry said was caused by a leaking tank at a gas storage facility. No deaths or injuries were reported.