Tag: developing

Biden administration developing plan to get Covid vaccines to the uninsured

[ad_1]
The people briefed on the matter cautioned that the plan’s specifics are not yet final and could still change. An HHS spokesperson did not immediately comment on the details of the program.
The administration, for example, has yet to finalize contracts with vaccine makers Moderna and Pfizer to purchase additional shots for the program. It is also still building out a distribution network to continue administering vaccines and treatments to the uninsured.
But HHS has set aside as much as $1.1 billion for the program, with the hope that it will keep Covid care free for uninsured adults through at least the summer of 2024, the people briefed on the matter said. Much of that money would go toward purchasing new vaccines in the fall, when drugmakers are expected to update their shots, and paying its distribution partners to administer them.
The stockpile for the uninsured will likely be small, given the lack of continued demand for the vaccine. Fewer than 40,000 people are now getting vaccinated per day as the pandemic recedes in people’s minds, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the lowest rate since the Covid shots became widely available.
Officials have estimated they probably have enough of the antiviral Paxlovid on hand to cover future demand for the treatment from the uninsured.
The population that would qualify for free care would also be somewhat limited. There are about 30 million adults without health insurance, though that number could grow as pandemic-era protections expire and more people lose their Medicaid coverage. A separate, pre-existing federal program will continue providing free vaccinations for uninsured children.
Still, the program has taken on heightened importance within the administration amid scrutiny of its plans to hand off major responsibilities tied to a pandemic still killing more than 1,300 a week, according to the CDC.
Officials are particularly eager to avoid reports of low-income Americans going without Covid treatments because they can’t afford to pay out-of-pocket prices likely to reach hundreds of dollars per dose.

Top health officials, including CDC Director Rochelle Walensky and Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Dawn O’Connell, are slated to appear Wednesday before Congress to discuss their priorities for the coming year.
Both Moderna and Pfizer are planning to charge at least $110 per dose for their vaccines on the private market, though they argue much of that cost will be covered for those who have insurance.
And while the companies have pledged to make the shots free for the uninsured through “patient assistance” programs, Biden officials remain skeptical they will be structured in a way that makes the vaccines easily accessible.
“We are going to have a plan to make sure that uninsured Americans continue to get access to vaccines and treatments for free,” White House Covid response coordinator Ashish Jha said in March on the “In the Bubble” podcast. “This is a really important goal, and we have set aside money to make sure we can meet that goal.”
[ad_2]
#Biden #administration #developing #plan #Covid #vaccines #uninsured
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 19, 2023
RSS meet to focus on social harmony, developing sense of self-reliance among people

[ad_1]
Samalkha: A key annual meeting of the RSS leadership will begin here Sunday, with the deliberations focusing on how to create an atmosphere of social harmony, motivating people to perform their duties and making them self-reliant.
The three-day meeting will also review the progress of the organisation’s expansion plan for the centenary of its foundation in 2025, head of media relations of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Sunil Ambekar had said.
He had said that the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha will be attended by more than 1,400 office-bearers, including RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale.
From the BJP, president J P Nadda and general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh will attend the meeting, he said.
A select number of office-bearers of 34 RSS-linked organisations, including Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), will also attend it, he added.
The Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha is the highest decision-making body of the RSS, the ideological fountainhead of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Addressing a press conference here on Friday, Ambekar had said, “RSS shakhas are actually centres for bringing change in society and they work for it in their respective jurisdictions based on the study of society conducted by swayamsevaks.”
The meeting will discuss the studies done by the swayamsevaks (volunteers) over the past few years and the work done on the basis of such studies, he said.

It will also discuss a range of socio-economic issues, “especially how to create an atmosphere of social harmony, motivate citizens to perform their duties and make them self-reliant,” Ambekar said.
It will also review the functioning of shakhas (local meeting units) and prepare a future road map, he added.
The Pratinidhi Sabha will adopt some resolutions before the conclusion of the meeting on March 14, he added.
“The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is going to complete 100 years of its establishment in 2025. The Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha will review the work in 2022-23 under its centenary-year expansion plan and set targets for 2023-24,” Ambekar said.
[ad_2]
#RSS #meet #focus #social #harmony #developing #sense #selfreliance #among #people
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 12, 2023
Russia developing North-South Corridor for business with India, Iran, and Pakistan: Putin

[ad_1]
Moscow: President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said Russia is developing the ambitious North-South Transport Corridor, which will open up new routes for business cooperation with India, Iran and Pakistan, as well as West Asian countries.
In his one hour and 45 minutes State of the Nation Address to the Federal Assembly, Putin also said that Russia will expand promising international economic connections, as well as build new supply corridors, as the US-led West has imposed crippling sanctions for Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine nearly one year ago.
“We will develop the ports of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, we will particularly focus on the North-South International Corridor,” Putin said, noting that it will open up new routes for business cooperation with India, Iran, Pakistan as well as West Asian countries.
“We will continue developing this corridor,” Putin was quoted as saying by the state-run Tass news agency.
“What areas should the state, regions, and local businesses focus their partnership work on? First, we will expand promising international economic connections and build new supply corridors,” he said in the speech days before the Ukraine war’s first anniversary on Friday.
He said a decision has already been taken to extend the Moscow-Kazan highway to Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk and Tyumen, and in the future — to Irkutsk and Vladivostok, and potentially — to Kazakhstan, Mongolia and China, which will particularly expand Russia’s economic ties with the markets of Southeast Asia.
The International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) is a 7,200-km-long multi-mode transport project for moving freight among India, Iran, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe.
The INSTC is India’s vision and initiative to reduce the time taken for EXIM shipments to reach Russia and Europe, and enter the Central Asian markets.

During a visit to Yerevan in Armenia in October 2021, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar proposed that the strategic Chabahar Port in Iran be included in the North-South Transport Corridor that has the potential to bridge connectivity barriers.
The Chabahar port in the Sistan-Balochistan province in the energy-rich nation’s southern coast is easily accessible from India’s western coast and is increasingly seen as a counter to Pakistan’s Gwadar Port located at a distance of around 80 km from Chabahar.
The first phase of the Chabahar port was inaugurated in December 2017 by then-Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, opening a new strategic route connecting Iran, India and Afghanistan bypassing Pakistan.
The Chabahar port is being considered a gateway to golden opportunities for trade by India, Iran and Afghanistan with Central Asian countries, besides ramping up trade among the three countries in the wake of Pakistan denying transit access to New Delhi.
[ad_2]
#Russia #developing #NorthSouth #Corridor #business #India #Iran #Pakistan #Putin
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 21, 2023
Budget 2023: 2 AI centres of excellence, 100 5G labs for developing apps

[ad_1]
New Delhi: Three centers of excellence for artificial intelligence in top educational institutions and 100 labs in engineering institutions for developing applications using 5G services will be set up, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Wednesday.
The finance minister made the announcement in her budget speech in Lok Sabha.
“Three centers of excellence for artificial intelligence will be set up in top educational institutions. Leading industry players will partner in conducting interdisciplinary research, developing cutting-edge applications and scalable problem solutions in the areas of agriculture, health, and sustainable cities,” she said.
Sitharaman said that a total of 100 labs will be set up in engineering institutions in collaboration with various authorities, regulators, banks, and other businesses for developing applications using 5G services.
“To realize the new range of opportunities, business models, and employment potential, the labs will cover, among others, applications such as smart classrooms, precision farming, intelligent transport systems, and healthcare applications,” she said.
The finance minister announced that to address learning loss incurred during the pandemic years, a national digital library for children and adolescents will be set up for facilitating the availability of quality books across geographies, languages, and genres.
As many as 38,000 teachers and support staff to be recruited in the next three years for 740 Eklavya Model Residential Schools serving 3.5 lakh tribal students, she said.
Sitharaman also announced that teachers’ training will be re-envisioned through innovative pedagogy, curriculum transaction, continuous professional development dipstick survey, and ICT implementation.

“Lab grown diamonds is a technology and innovation-driven, an energy-driven sector with high employment potential. To encourage indigenous production of such diamonds, a research grant will be provided to one of the IITs for five years,” she said.
[ad_2]
#Budget #centres #excellence #labs #developing #apps
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 1, 2023