India said that the COVID-19 vaccine Corbevax can be administered as a booster dose in people who have taken the country's other two main shots, Covaxin and Covishield, from Friday.
Biological E's Corbevax will be available to over 18s as precautionary booster six months after a second dose, the health ministry said in an August 8 letter to state authorities and shared with reporters on Wednesday.
Covishield is produced for the Indian market by the Serum Institute of India under licence from AstraZeneca, while Bharat Biotech makes Covaxin.
India has so far administered more than 2 billion COVID vaccine shots, including 113 million boosters, all of which have so far been of the same vaccine as the recipient's first two doses.
The government says about 89 per cent of people above the age of 12 have had two doses.
The country of nearly 1.4 billion people has documented more than 44 million coronavirus infections and 526,826 related deaths.
The actual numbers are believed to be many times higher.
China on Friday launched an uncrewed spacecraft on a nearly two-month mission to retrieve rocks and soil from the far side of the moon, the first country to make such an ambitious attempt.
Police forcibly removed scores of defiant pro-Palestinian protesters at several colleges on Thursday, including taking down an encampment at UCLA in a jarring scene that underscored the heightened chaos that has erupted at universities this week.
The Indonesian government will permanently relocate almost 10,000 residents after a series of explosive eruptions of the Ruang volcano has raised concerns about the dangers of residing on the island in future, a minister said on Friday.
A magnitude 6.0 earthquake struck off the island province of Leyte in central Philippines on Friday, with damage and aftershocks expected, its seismology agency said.
Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi will contest the general election from the family bastion in the north, his Congress party announced on Friday, a move that will challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a region he dominates.
A bus veered into a ravine in Pakistan's far north early on Friday, a local government spokesman said, killing 20 passengers, while 21 injured were rescued and taken to hospital.
The death toll from heavy rains in Brazil's southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul rose to 29, local authorities said on Thursday evening, as the state government declared a state of public calamity to handle the dramatic situation.
Mexican authorities said on Thursday they were searching at sea and on land for two Australians and one American reported missing in Baja California, one of the country's most violent states.
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Welcome to Pinoy Bulletin, your go-to source for staying informed about important announcements, exciting group activities, community events, and job opportunities!
Welcome to Pinoy Bulletin, your go-to source for staying informed about important announcements, exciting group activities, community events, and job opportunities!