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The plasma is believed to contain powerful antibodies that can help fight off the disease faster and help protect people from being seriously hurt by it.

While the treatment has already been used on patients in the United States and other nations, the extent of its effectiveness is still debated by experts and some have warned that it could carry side effects. | Photo Credit: AP

American authorities announced on Sunday an emergency approval of blood plasma from recovered coronavirus patients as a treatment against the disease that has killed over 176,000 in the U.S.

The Food and Drug Administration’s authorization comes as President Donald Trump faces intense pressure to curb the contagion that has hobbled the world’s largest economy and clouded his once-promising prospects for re-election in November.

The plasma is believed to contain powerful antibodies that can help fight off the disease faster and help protect people from being seriously hurt by it.

“This product may be effective in treating COVID-19 and… the known and potential benefits of the product outweigh the known and potential risks of the product,” FDA said in a statement.

While the treatment has already been used on patients in the United States and other nations, the extent of its effectiveness is still debated by experts and some have warned that it could carry side effects.

“Convalescent plasma probably works — though it still needs to be proven in clinical trials — but not as a rescue treatment for people who are already severely ill,” said Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

He said that plasma would likely work much better right after a person was exposed to the virus, when the body is trying to neutralize the infection.

Earlier Sunday U.S. media reported that Mr. Trump would announce the emergency authorization at a press conference, but the White House declined to comment on the president’s plans.

Trump spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany said the president would announce a “major therapeutic breakthrough.”

However, the FDA already allows convalescent plasma transfusions for coronavirus patients under certain conditions, such as clinical trials and gravely ill people.

The Washington Post, which reported Mr. Trump would announce the approval, said that over 70,000 virus patients in the U.S. have received such a transfusion.

PTI

Washington: Aiming to woo the influential Indian-American voters numbering over 2 million, the Trump campaign has released its first video commercial that has short clips from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speeches and US President Donald Trump’s historic address in Ahmedabad.

Modi and Trump addressed a huge crowd in Ahmedabad during the US president’s visit to India in February this year. Trump was also accompanied by his wife Melania, daughter Ivanka, son-in-law Jared Kushner and top brass of his administration on his trip to India.

“America enjoys a great relationship with India and our campaign enjoys great support from Indian-Americans!” Kimberly Guilfoyle, national chair of Trump Victory Finance Committee said in a tweet releasing the video commercial.

The president’s son Donald Trump Jr, who is leading the campaign and is well connected with the Indian-American community, also retweeted it as the commercial soon became viral on social media with over 66,000 views on Twitter in the first few hours.

Titled “Four More Years” the 107-second video starts with the iconic footage of Modi and Trump walking hand in hand at the NRG Stadium in Houston during the prime minister’s visit to the US last year wherein the leaders of the world’s two largest democracies made a joint address before a strong crowd of Indian-Americans numbering more than 50,000.

Amidst cheering of thousands of his supporters in the US, Modi is seen as saying that Trump “needs no introduction” and that “his name comes up in almost every conversation.”

He is the president of the United States of America “Mr Donald Trump”, the prime minister says at the start of the video, that has been conceptualised by Al Mason, co-chair of the Trump Victory Indian American Finance Committee.

Modi is highly popular among Indian-Americans. His star appeal has attracted record crowds. His address at the Madison Square Garden in 2015 and then in the Silicon Valley two years later, both attracting more than 20,000 people, making the prime minister perhaps the only foreign leader in recent memory to have addressed such huge rallies in the US.

His “Howdy Modi” address in Houston last September was attended by a record 50,000 people. Trump made a solo trip to Houston to join Modi in addressing the historic rally.

After Modi introduces Trump to “my family”, the second part of the commercial has clips form Trump’s address in Ahmedabad this February.

“America loves India. America respects India. And America will always be a faithful and loyal friend to the Indian people,” Trump says in the commercial in which he praises the contribution of four million Indian-Americans.

“They are truly spectacular people,” the president said.

The commercial comes following a research by Mason in battleground States according to which the Indian-Americans, who traditionally vote for the Democrats, are switching over to the Republican party in significant numbers because the friendship that Trump has with Modi and the latter’s high popularity among a large section of the community, of which 2.5 million are eligible to vote.

In the battleground States the Indian-Americans number 1.3 million as per a recent statement made by the Indian-Americans in the Democratic Party.

Mason’s survey was conducted before former vice president Joe Biden, the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate, selected Indian-origin Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate, a move the Democratic Party leader believes would stem the flow of Indian-Americans towards the Republicans.

However, both President Trump and his campaign, in recent remarks, asserted that more Indian-Americans support them than the Democrats. In various writings and statement, the Democratic leaders in recent weeks have apprehended that Trump’s friendship with Modi might sway their traditional vote bank this November election.

The Republican National Convention now almost in a virtual mode is being held next week. President Trump is expected to deliver his nomination acceptance speech from the White House lawns on August 27.

The Trump campaign believes that the Indian-Americans can play an important role in this election, especially in the battleground states like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, where the two rival campaigns would be battling for every vote. It has also created separate coalitions for the Indian-Americans and Sikhs. For the first time, a presidential campaign has created a coalition group for the Hindus.

The rival Democratic campaign too is coming out with ideas and commercials to woo Indian-Americans. Democratic National Committee chair Tom Perez has addressed the community virtually, wherein he has acknowledged the key role that the Indian-Americans can play in the battleground States.

On August 15, both Biden and Harris made a video address at an Indian-American event. The campaign has released a policy paper for Indian–Americans.

A day earlier, a Silicon Valley-based Indian-American political couple released a musical campaign video targeting Indian-Americans in the battleground states and urging them to vote for Biden and Harris.

Democratic supporters are planning to release at least two more Bollywood-style video commercials to attract the Indian-Americans, as the campaign heats up in the next 70-plus days.

PTI | AP

Tehran: Iran said Sunday that an upcoming visit this week by the head of the UN’s atomic watchdog agency to Tehran has nothing to do with a US push to impose so-called snapback sanctions on Iran.

The Trump administration last week dismissed near-universal opposition to its demand to restore all UN sanctions on Iran, declaring that a 30-day countdown for the snapback of penalties eased under the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers had begun.

US allies and foes have joined forces to declare the action illegal and doomed to failure. The US argues that Iran has violated the restrictions imposed on its nuclear programme under the 2015 deal, a charge Tehran has dismissed.

Iran’s official IRNA news agency quoted on Sunday Iran’s envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA, Kazem Gharibadadi, as saying that the visit this week is neither related to the snapback mechanism nor the US demand.

Gharibabadi said the visit by the IAEA chief Rafael Grossi comes within the framework of Iran’s invitation.

We do not allow others to manage Iran,” he said, adding that Iran’s trust in the IAEA has been damaged in recent months.” He expressed hope Grossi’s visit will lead to building trust.

It is important to assure Tehran that the agency will move based on impartiality, independence and professionalism, said Gharibabadi.

The IAEA said on Saturday that Grossi will head to Tehran to press Iranian authorities for access to sites where the country is thought to have stored or used undeclared nuclear material. Gharibabadi said Grossi was due to meet with Iranian officials on both Tuesday and Wednesday.

The landmark 2015 nuclear deal was endorsed by a UN Security Council resolution and includes the snapback provision. President Donald Trump pulled America out of the accord in 2018 and imposed severe US sanctions on Iran.

Hundreds of thousands may be vaccinated by this winter, with broad scope outlined by authorities for ‘urgent use’

Image for representation purpose only. | Photo Credit: Reuters

China has since July 22 been administering its domestically-developed COVID-19 vaccines to a broad range of people whose number may soon be in the hundreds of thousands, including medical workers, the armed forces, and employees of companies who are working overseas on Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects, said a health official on August 22.

China has eight different vaccines which are going through clinical trials, and none have so far been approved for the market. Some of the vaccines have, however, been administered on an “urgent use” basis for the past month, Zheng Zhongwei, director of the Development Centre for Medical Science and Technology of the National Health Commission, which is leading the vaccine development programme, told State media.

Authorities have permitted administering vaccines to medical workers, border officers and those employed overseas, while the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has also begun inoculating military personnel. Vaccines are being administered in two doses, with the second given one month after the first shot.

“The number of people being vaccinated on an urgent basis may reach hundreds of thousands across China, considering that personnel in wider sectors are being offered free injections,” Tao Lina, an immunology expert, was quoted as saying by the Communist Party-run newspaper, Global Times. “But it’s difficult to give an accurate figure since the Chinese military has begun mass vaccinations but has not released details.”

That number could rise further by this winter. Mr. Zheng said that ahead of a possible wave of cases this winter, the vaccines would be made available “to people working in food markets, transport systems and services industries.” Those who have previously tested positive for COVID-19 will not be among the early group.

Mr. Zheng said when the vaccine reaches the market, it would be priced slightly lower than the estimate given by one of the producers, Sinopharm, of around 1,000 Yuan, or ₹10,800 for two shots. Sinopharm has said a vaccine may be given the green light for marketing by the end of the year, which was “dependent on the progress of late-stage clinical trials overseas”. More than 20,000 people in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had taken vaccines in Phase Three clinical trials, while Sinopharm has signed agreements with three other countries, Peru, Morocco and Argentina, for trials.

The Global Times quoted an employee of a state-run enterprise working on overseas projects as part of the BRI as saying “all staff in her company have been offered inactivated vaccine injections on a voluntary basis for free.” The employee took the vaccine on August 7 and said “at least 10% of the employees, mainly those in charge of projects overseas, have been vaccinated in groups since they were notified on July 30.”

The inoculation of workers going overseas has, however, raised questions with some of the countries receiving them, with Papua New Guinea barring the entry of Chinese workers on a mine project who had been inoculated on August 10 before travelling.

With inputs from The Hindu