Coronavirus vaccine highlights: Mauritius begins Covid-19 vaccination programme

Calling for international cooperation for massive vaccination to end Covid-19, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said licenses should be made available to countries like India and Brazil that have huge production capacities. Meanwhile, Moderna announced its vaccine is effective against new variants of the coronavirus that have emerged in Britain and South Africa, but it appears to be less protective against the variant discovered in South Africa.

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Pfizer Inc and partner BioNTech Se are developing booster shots that can protect against Covid-19 variants, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla.

Mexico eyes delivery of Russian Sputnik V vaccine next week

Mexico is very close to signing a contract for Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine and the first shipment of around 200,000 doses could arrive next week, a Mexican official said on Tuesday.

Juan Ferrer Aguilar, a senior health official, was speaking at a regular government news conference a day after President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador telephoned his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, and announced Russia would supply Mexico with 24 million doses over the next two months.

EU to monitor Covid-19 vaccine exports, but says it's not a ban

The European Commission will finalise a proposal by the end of the week to require pharmaceutical firms to register their vaccine exports from the European Union, while insisting it had no plans to impose an export ban.

EU countries learnt late last week that deliveries of the vaccine from AstraZeneca, which is expected to be approved on Friday, would be some 60% lower in the first quarter than initially indicated.

There have also been reduced deliveries of a vaccine jointly produced by Pfizer and BioNTech.

Stop hoarding Covid-19 vaccines, South Africa's Ramaphosa tells rich nations

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday urged wealthy countries not to hoard surplus Covid-19 vaccine supplies, adding his voice to calls for global production to be shared more equally.

With Africa struggling to secure sufficient vaccines to start countrywide inoculation programmes for its 1.3 billion people, the head of the international Gavi vaccine alliance meanwhile said the surplus doses that richer countries had ordered ran into the hundreds of millions.

Ramaphosa, who chairs the African Union and whose nation has recorded nearly half of the continent's coronavirus deaths, said the world needed those who had hoarded doses to release them for other countries to use.

Mauritius begins Covid-19 vaccination programme

Mauritius on Tuesday began vaccinating against Covid-19, a crucial step for the Indian Ocean archipelago nation as it seeks to revive its hard-hit tourism industry and welcome visitors again.

An on-duty doctor at Victoria Hospital, in the central town of Quatre-Bornes, was the first to receive the jab, with about 100 other medical staff expected to be vaccinated Tuesday.

Health Minister Kailesh Jagutpal said the campaign would initially target frontline healthcare staff treating Covid patients, and workers meeting passengers at the airport.

Johnson & Johnson expects to share details on the company's late-stage Covid-19 vaccine trial early next week, Chief Executive Officer Alex Gorsky said at a post-earnings conference call on Tuesday.

AstraZeneca offers small concession, EU pleads for UK-made shots amid Covid-19 vaccine row

AstraZeneca has offered to bring forward some deliveries of its Covid-19 vaccine to the European Union while the bloc has asked the British drugmaker if it can divert doses from the UK to make up for a shortfall in supplies, European officials told Reuters.

The Anglo-Swedish company unexpectedly announced on Friday it would cut supplies to the EU of its vaccine candidate in the first quarter of this year, a move that a senior EU official told Reuters meant a 60% reduction to 31 million doses for the bloc.

A patient waits to receive an injection of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine at the vaccination centre set up inside Brighton Centre in southeast England. Credit: AFP Photo

Moderna Covid-19 jabs can be spaced up to six weeks: WHO

World Health Organization experts on Tuesday cautiously backed delaying second injections of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine in some situations, and insisted international travellers should not be prioritised for Covid-19 jabs.

The WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation (SAGE) said it was best to adhere to the tested interval of 28 days between doses of the Moderna vaccine, but that in "exceptional circumstances" the doses could be spaced as far as 42 days apart.

Medics hold the tricolour as they stand next to a model of coronavirus vaccine syringe and vial, made in honor of corona warriors, ahead of the 72nd Republic Day, in Bengaluru. Credit: PTI Photo

Johnson & Johnson promises vaccine data 'soon'

Johnson & Johnson said on Tuesday it would share details from its widely watched coronavirus vaccine trial soon, as the healthcare conglomerate races to develop a potential single-dose vaccine for Covid-19.

Data from Johnson & Johnson's single-dose Covid-19 shot is expected this month, with global hopes to battle the virus riding on multiple vaccines to ensure adequate supply.

Iran says has approved Russia's Sputnik V vaccine: Minister

Inactivated Covid-19 vaccines can be upgraded for variants in 2 months: China CDC expert

China's Covid-19 vaccines based on the inactivated virus can be upgraded to cope with new variants in about two months, the Global Times reported on Tuesday citing an expert with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

There are concerns that vaccines developed over the last year may be less effective again new variants of the virus discovered recently in Britain and South Africa. Moderna Inc said on Monday it would test a new booster shot aimed at the South African variant after concluding the antibody response could be diminished.

UK 'confident' vaccine orders will be honoured

Britain said on Tuesday it was confident of receiving all the vaccine doses it has ordered, despite supply chain issues sparking a political backlash in Europe.

The UK is racing to meet a target of vaccinating nearly 15 million people by the middle of next month, and the entire adult population by the autumn.

However, fears are growing that the initially impressive rollout could be threatened by supply issues in Europe and possible action by the European Union, which is facing concerns over its supply.

British-Swedish pharma group AstraZeneca, whose jabs are already being rolled out in the UK, said on Friday it would not meet its contractual delivery commitments to the EU because of "reduced yields".

Karnataka's war on Covid-19 commendable: Governor Vajubhai Vala

Governor Vajubhai Vala on Tuesday commended the efforts of the Karnataka government in combating the Covid-19 pandemic and in using technology to monitor those who were quarantined. "Karnataka's fight against coronavirus is commendable and the state is using technology to quarantine people.

People are using the Apthamitra helpline during the Covid-19 pandemic," he said during the Republic Day Parade at the Field Marshal Manekshaw Parade Ground here. Vala said India took the pandemic as a challenge and became self-reliant in manufacturing PPE kits and ventilators in a big way.

Indonesia passes one million coronavirus cases

Indonesia passed more than one million Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, as the archipelago launches one of the world's biggest vaccine drives to clamp down on a soaring infection rate.

The Southeast Asian nation of nearly 270 million has recorded 1,012,350 virus cases and almost 29,000 deaths, according to official data. But low testing rates mean the crisis is believed to be much bigger than those figures suggest. (AFP)

UK to unveil hotel quarantine plans, public told not to book vacations

Britain will announce on Tuesday whether it will bring in mandatory quarantine in hotels for some or all arrivals, the country's coronavirus vaccination minister said as he warned the public not to book summer vacations.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he was looking at the option of introducing quarantine hotels for those coming to Britain to prevent the risk of "vaccine-busting" new coronavirus variants entering the country.

Nadhim Zahawi, the minister responsible for the rollout of the United Kingdom's Covid-19 vaccination programme, said details of plans would come later on Tuesday. (Reuters)

Ukraine expects to receive 1-2 lakh vaccines from Pfizer by February, says PM. (Reuters)

Saudi Arabia to get 3 million AstraZeneca Covid-19 shots in about a week from India

The Serum Institute of India (SII) will supply Saudi Arabia with 3 million AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine doses priced at $5.25 each in about a week on behalf of the British drugmaker, its chief executive told Reuters on Monday.

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Airlifted Covid vaccines to 9 countries, will gradually supply to WHO's COVAX facility: India at UN

India has informed the UN Security Council that it will gradually supply vaccines to the COVAX facility of the World Health Organization and undertake contractual supplies to various countries in a phased manner, as more than six million doses have been airlifted to nine countries under New Delhi’s “vaccine diplomacy.”

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Pfizer or Sinopharm? 'Vaccine diplomacy' in Middle East

Pfizer or Sinopharm? The US or China? In the Middle East and North Africa, novel coronavirus vaccine orders are driven by diplomatic and logistical considerations, reflecting Beijing's growing regional influence.

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Why vaccines alone will not end coronavirus

The coronavirus pandemic in the United States has raged almost uncontrollably for so long that even if millions of people are vaccinated, millions more will still be infected and become ill unless people continue to wear masks and maintain social distancing measures until midsummer or later, according to a new model by scientists at Columbia University.

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UN chief pitches for making Covid-19 vaccine licenses available to India, Brazil for mass production

Calling for international cooperation for massive vaccination to end Covid-19, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday licenses should be made available to countries like India and Brazil that have huge production capacities.

Read more

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