India begins selecting people for priority COVID-19 vaccines as over 60,000 more cases recorded

1 / 4
Volunteers offer hand sanitizers to devotee arriving at a temple dedicated to Hindu goddess Kali in Jammu, India, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2020. (AP)
2 / 4
A worker arranges peacock feathers on the outskirts of Ahmedabad on October 17, 2020. (AFP)
3 / 4
An employee sanitises a coach as the metro network prepares to resume services after more than a 6-month shutdown due to the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic, at the Andheri metro station in Mumbai on October 17, 2020. (AFP)
4 / 4
A woman (C) carries a basket filled with flowers to sell on a street in Mumbai on October 17, 2020. (AFP)
Short Url
Updated 17 October 2020
Follow

India begins selecting people for priority COVID-19 vaccines as over 60,000 more cases recorded

  • India has recorded the world's second-largest number of cases after the US
  • Worries have been high that there may be further spikes during the ongoing festival season

MUMBAI: India’s coronavirus infections rose by another 62,212 cases over the previous day and a local media report said on Saturday that the government had begun identifying about 300 million people who would be given the vaccine first when it is ready.
The Times of India said that frontline health and sanitation workers, police officials and elderly people with co-morbidities will get the vaccine on priority.
The plan, which is still in the draft stage, aims to cover 23 percent of the population in the first phase. The final plan is likely to be ready by end October-November, the report said.
The selected individuals will be given an estimated 600 million doses.
Earlier this month, health minister Harsh Vardhan had said that India hopes to receive up to 500 million doses of coronavirus vaccines by July next year to inoculate about 250 million people.
Officials have said that giving the vaccine to India’s 1.3 billion people will be a mammoth exercise, likely to stretch well into 2022.
India's cumulative tally of coronavirus infections stood at 7.43 million on Saturday, having risen by 62,212 in the last 24 hours, health ministry data showed.
But the number of active infections slipped below 800,000 for the first time in 1.5 months, which the ministry called a significant achievement.
India has recorded the world's second-largest number of cases after the United States and worries have been high that there may be further spikes during the ongoing festival season.


Jeffrey Epstein estate agrees to settle victim claims for up to $35 million

Updated 4 sec ago
Follow

Jeffrey Epstein estate agrees to settle victim claims for up to $35 million

  • The agreement must be approved by a federal judge in New York before it can become final
  • Estate would pay $35 million if there are 40 or more people eligible in the class and $25 million if there are fewer than 40
WASHINGTON: The estate of convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has agreed to pay up to $35 million to settle the outstanding legal claims of potentially dozens of victims, according to a court filing Thursday.
The agreement must be approved by a federal judge in New York before it can become final.
The settlement is related to victims who said they were “sexually assaulted or abused or trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein between January 1, 1995, and through August 10, 2019,” the date of the disgraced financier’s death in prison, the proposed plan said.
Epstein’s estate would pay $35 million if there are 40 or more people eligible in the class and $25 million if there are fewer than 40.
The co-executors of the settlement are Darren Indyke, Epstein’s former lawyer, and Richard Kahn, the financier’s former accountant.
Both have denied any wrongdoing through their association with the convicted sex offender and have not been accused of any sexual abuse crimes or witnessing of sexual abuse.
But the settlement, if confirmed, will bring to a close the initial lawsuit filed in 2024 in which the pair of advisers were accused of enabling Epstein’s illicit activities through their legal and business services.
The judgment filed in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday said the agreement does not mean the co-executors admit fault or are liable to further legal action from victims.
The law firm representing the class of victims, Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on how many people were part of the lawsuit.
Bloomberg News reported late Thursday that the firm was confident they had at least 40 victims who had not yet settled with Epstein’s estate.
Daniel H. Weiner, the lawyer representing the co-executors, did not immediately reply to a comment request.
The settlement comes after the release by the US Justice Department of millions of documents, photographs and videos related to the investigation into Epstein.
Epstein cultivated a global network of powerful politicians, business executives, academics and celebrities — many of whom have been tainted by their association with him.