The US government has announced investment plans to boost Covid-19 vaccine production capacity to an additional one billion doses every year. This funding is part of a private-public partnership to meet both domestic and global vaccine demands, and to equip for pandemics in the future, the New York Times reported. The scheme is expected to cost billions of dollars and will be funded through the American Rescue Plan. Reuters quoted an administration official as saying that the government is ready to extend aid to mRNA vaccine producers to boost infrastructure and resources.

Moderna has sought emergency use authorisation from the US Food and Drug Administration for the booster dose of its Covid-19 vaccine for individuals aged 18 years and above. Currently, the booster shots are authorised for usage in immunocompromised individuals, those of age 65 years and above, and for people at increased risk of severe Covid-19 or exposure to the virus due to work. The 50µg booster vaccine is half the dosage of the company’s original shot, administered at an interval of four weeks.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund has reported that the Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine demonstrated an efficacy of 96.3%, as well as a greater safety profile, in a study among vaccinated people in the Republic of Belarus. The vaccine’s efficacy was determined based on results from over 1.2 million individuals inoculated with two components of Sputnik V between January and September this year, when the Delta variant was prevalent. In the study, adverse events following immunisation were reported to be mild or moderate in nature, without any deaths linked to vaccine observed.