AS 2020 DRAWS TO A CLOSE, there is little doubt that it will be regarded as an Annus Horribilis. Not just because of the toll the Covid-19 pandemic took on lives (64 million infected worldwide and 1.4 million dead) but also due to the devastation it caused to livelihoods, plunging the world into an economic trough not seen since the Great Depression. Yet, by the end of the year, amidst all the gloom, there emerged a silver lining that could yet make 2020 an Annus Mirabilis, thanks to the exciting development of vaccines to combat the pandemic.
Vaccines against diseases normally take years, if not decades, to develop. Not anymore. In a major breakthrough, on December 2, just nine months after the World Health Organization (WHO) had declared the Coronavirus disease or Covid-19 a pandemic, the United Kingdom cleared a vaccine developed by US pharma giant Pfizer in collaboration with German firm BioNTech SE for emergency use. Meanwhile, Pfizer, along with Moderna, a US-based biotech firm, which has developed a vaccine of its own, applied for an Emergency Use Authorisation certificate with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), America’s health regulatory body. Both applicants claimed the effectiveness of treating the disease way above the 50 per cent stipulated by the FDA.
Denne historien er fra December 14, 2020-utgaven av India Today.
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Denne historien er fra December 14, 2020-utgaven av India Today.
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Shuttle Star
Ashwini Ponnappa was the only Indian to compete in the inaugural edition of BDMNTN-XL, a new international badminton tourney with a new format, held in Indonesia
There's No Planet B
All Living Things-Environmental Film Festival (ALT EFF) returns with 72 films to be screened across multiple locations from Nov. 22 to Dec. 8
AMPED UP AND UNPLUGGED
THE MAHINDRA INDEPENDENCE ROCK FESTIVAL PROMISES AN INTERESTING LINE-UP OF OLD AND NEW ACTS, CEMENTING ITS REPUTATION AS THE 'WOODSTOCK OF INDIA'
A Musical Marriage
Faezeh Jalali has returned to the Prithvi Theatre Festival with Runaway Brides, a hilarious musical about Indian weddings
THE PRICE OF FREEDOM
Nikhil Advani’s adaptation of Freedom at Midnight details our tumultuous transition to an independent nation
Family Saga
RAMONA SEN's The Lady on the Horse doesn't lose its pace while narrating the story of five generations of a family in Calcutta
THE ETERNAL MOTHER
Prayaag Akbar's new novel delves into the complexities of contemporary India
TURNING A NEW LEAF
Since the turn of the century, we have lost hundreds of thousands of trees. Many had stood for centuries, weathering storms, wars, droughts and famines.
INDIA'S BEATING GREEN HEART
Ramachandra Guha's new book-Speaking with Nature-is a chronicle of homegrown environmentalism that speaks to the world
A NEW LEASE FOR OLD FILMS
NOSTALGIA AND CURIOSITY BRING AUDIENCES BACK TO THE THEATRES TO REVISIT MOVIES OF THE YESTERYEARS