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 Britain first to approve AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine
Britain on Wednesday became the first country to approve a
coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca
as it battles a winter surge driven by a highly contagious variant
of the virus.
Britain has already ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine, and
the government said it had accepted the recommendation from the
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to grant
emergency authorisation.
The approval is vindication of a shot seen as essential for mass
immunisations in the developing world, as well as in Britain, but
one that has been dogged by questions about its trial data that make
it unlikely to be approved quickly in the European Union or the
United States.
U.S. detects first case of COVID-19 variant
The first known U.S. case of the highly infectious coronavirus
variant discovered in Britain was detected in Colorado on Tuesday as
President-elect Joe Biden warned it could take years for most U.S.
citizens to be vaccinated at current distribution rates.
Biden's prediction of a grim winter appeared aimed at lowering
public expectations that the pandemic would be over soon after he
takes office on Jan. 20, while putting Congress on notice that he
wants to significantly increase spending to expedite vaccine
distribution, expand coronavirus testing and help reopen schools.
Biden said about 2 million people have received the initial dose of
one of two newly approved two-dose vaccines, well short of the 20
million that outgoing Republican President Donald Trump had promised
by year's end.
Sinopharm's vaccine 79% effective
An affiliate of China's state-owned drug maker Sinopharm said on
Wednesday its vaccine showed 79.34% efficacy and it has requested
regulatory approval, moving a step closer to becoming China's first
approved vaccine for general public use.
The efficacy rate is lower than the 86% rate for the same vaccine
announced by the United Arab Emirates on Dec. 9, based on
preliminary data from trials there.
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 A spokeswoman declined to
explain the discrepancy and said detailed
results would be released later, without giving
a timeline. Tokyo governor warns
of possible explosion in cases
Tokyo's coronavirus outbreak is severe and could explode, just as
Japan begins its New Year's holiday period, in which millions of
people usually move around the country, the city's governor said on
Wednesday.
The capital recorded 944 new cases on Wednesday, just under the
record 949 recorded on Saturday, and medical officials said that,
unless the outbreak is checked, the city could soon see more than
1,000 new patients a day. "Please emphasise life
over fun," Governor Yuriko Koike told a news conference.
Philippine president's guards used 'smuggled' vaccines
The Philippine defence minister said on Wednesday that unapproved
COVID-19 vaccines given to President Rodrigo Duterte's military
security detail had been smuggled into the country, but called the
move justified.
News of the special troop unit being inoculated as early as
September has caused a stir among activists, with the Food and Drug
Administration yet to approve any vaccine and no set timeline for
when health workers would receive one.
 Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said members of the Presidential
Security Group obtained the vaccine without government authorisation
and had administered them without his knowledge.
(Compiled by Linda Noakes; editing by Barbara Lewis
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