Exposed: Those who met with PM Modi in Kutch were not farmers but BJP activists!

Jerusalem, Jan 17: At least 13 people in Israel have suffered mild facial paralysis as a side-effect post Coronavirus vaccination, WION reported. The Health Ministry said that the actual number of people suffering such side effects could be higher than reported. Also Read - Coronavirus Found on Ice Cream in Chinese City, Thousands of Boxes Seized

Experts are now apprehensive of giving the second dose of the shot to these people, even though the health ministry has insisted on giving the jab once the paralysis heals. Also Read - AIIMS Worker Suffers Allergic Reaction After Receiving Coronavirus Vaccine, Admitted to ICU

“For at least 28 hours I walked around with it (facial paralysis),” one person told Ynet. “I can’t say it was completely gone afterwards, but other than that I had no other pains, except a minor pain where the injection was but there was nothing beyond that.” Also Read - Vaccination Against COVID-19 Begins in India, Bailey Bridge on Jammu-Srinagar Highway Opens After 1 Week: Top Headlines at This Hour

Israel began its Covid-19 vaccination drive on December 20, 2020. About 72 per cent of those aged 60 and over have already been vaccinated.

In an similar incident which was reported last month, four volunteers who were given Pfizer vaccine shots during the trial stage had developed Bell’s Palsy in the UK. Notably, Bell’s palsy is a medical condition that causes one half of the face to droop. This led to Britain’s medicines regulator issuing a warning for people with “significant” history of allergic reactions to medicines, food or vaccines to not have the Pfizer/BioNTech jabs.

Recently, 23 elderly people died in Norway, shortly after receiving the Pfizer’s mRNA-based coronavirus vaccine. The country launched a mass vaccination campaign at the end of December 2019, with the very oldest citizens and residents of nursing homes being offered vaccination first, including those over the age of 85.

The Norwegian Medicines Agency on its website said that 13 of the 23 people who died had shown common side effects of mRNA vaccines such as diarrhea, nausea and fever.

New Delhi, Jan 15: As India gears up for a massive Covid-19 vaccination drive on January 16, many have expressed concerns over the vaccination process and raised doubts over its impact and side-effects.

One question raised by many was whether a person could get the Covid-19 infection from the vaccine. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan took to Twitter to address the rumours.

"You cannot contract Covid-19 because you have been inoculated with a vaccine, but it is possible to have caught Covid-19 and not realise you have the symptoms until after your vaccination appointment," Vardhan said. 

You cannot contract #COVID19 because you have been inoculated with a #COVID19Vaccine

Temporary side effects such as mild fever should not be confused as having contracted #COVID.#StayInformedStaySafe @PMOIndia @MoHFW_INDIA pic.twitter.com/ZkZgLU8tpy

— Dr Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) January 14, 2021

Busting another myth on whether the Covid-19 vaccine causes infertility in men or women, the health minister stated that "there is no scientific evidence to suggest that".

"Infertility is not known to occur as a result of Covid-19 disease either," he added. 

The health minister also clarified that although there may be side effects to the vaccines, "they are expected to go away on their own after some time".

India's drugs regulator has approved Oxford Covid-19 vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute, and indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted emergency use in the country.

The government has purchased 1.1 crore doses of Covishield vaccine from SII at the cost of ₹200 per dose, excluding taxes, while 55 lakh doses of Covaxin are being procured from Bharat Biotech India Limited.

New Delhi, Jan 20: The government on Wednesday offered to amend the three contentious farm laws at their 10th round of talks with protesting unions but farmer leaders stuck to their demand for a complete repeal of the Acts and alleged that the Centre was avoiding discussion on a legal guarantee for MSP.

Farmer leaders said there was no breakthrough in the first session as both sides were stuck on their stated positions vis-a-vis the three farm laws and there was little hope of any outcome other than fixing the date for the 11th round.

Farmer leaders also raised the issue of NIA notices being served to some farmers, alleging it was being done just to harass those supporting the agitation, to which the government representatives said they will look into the matter.

As the two sides took a break, where farmer leaders had langar food, Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) general secretary Yudhvir Singh told PTI, "The stalemate is continuing over the three laws and I don't think any solution will emerge from today's meeting. Both sides are adamant on their position."

He said the government is insisting on first discussing the three laws and wants to take up the MSP (Minimum Support Price) matter later.

"We will insist on a discussion on MSP after the tea break and also try to seek the next date for meeting before January 26," Singh said.

Another farmer leader Rakesh Tikait said, "The government is not ready to repeal the three laws and farmers are not ready for amendments. The government doesn't want to discuss MSP."

"No solution will emerge from today's meeting. We will meet again on the next date," he said.

Tikait also said the union leaders raised the NIA (National Investigation Agency) issue in the meeting, to which the ministers said they will look into it.

The meeting began at around 2.45 pm with the three ministers greeting farmer leaders on the occasion of Gurupurab.

"The government offered to carry out some amendments, but farmer leaders maintained they do not want anything less than a complete repeal of the laws," Tikait said.

Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, Railways, Commerce and Food Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Commerce Som Parkash, who is an MP from Punjab, are holding the talks with the representatives of around 40 farmer unions at the Vigyan Bhawan here.

Before the meeting, the three ministers also met senior BJP leader and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The tenth round of talks was initially scheduled on January 19, but later got postponed to Wednesday.

In the last round of talks, the government had asked protesting farmers to prepare a concrete proposal about their objections and suggestions on the three farm laws for further discussion at their next meeting to end the long-running protest. But, unions stuck to their main demand of a complete repeal of the three Acts.

Thousands of farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, are protesting at various border points of Delhi for over a month now against the three laws. Farmer groups have alleged these laws will end the mandi and MSP procurement systems and leave the farmers at the mercy of big corporates, even as the government has rejected these apprehensions as misplaced.

On January 11, the Supreme Court had stayed the implementation of the three laws till further orders and appointed a four-member panel to resolve the impasse.

Bhartiya Kisan Union president Bhupinder Singh Mann had recused himself from the committee appointed by the apex court.

Shetkari Sanghatana (Maharashtra) president Anil Ghanwat and agriculture economists Pramod Kumar Joshi and Ashok Gulati are the other three members on the panel.

On Tuesday, the SC panel held its first meeting in the national capital.

Under attack from protesting unions for their "pro-government" public stand on three contentious farm laws, the members of the committee said that they would keep aside their own ideology and views while consulting various stakeholders, even as they indicated a complete repeal won't augur well for much-needed agriculture reforms.

Earlier in the day, a group of farm union leaders met top officials of Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh police to discuss the route and arrangements for their tractor rally on January 26 to protest against the three farm laws.

But the unions rejected a suggestion by police officers to hold their rally on the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Expressway instead of Delhi's Outer Ring Road, sources said.