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 Opening up immunisation, India's vaccine exports to dwindle
India opened up its coronavirus inoculation programme to people
above 45 on Thursday as infections surge, which will delay vaccine
exports from the world's biggest maker of the drug. The government
has previously said that people over 45 can register for inoculation
from April 1.
India has already decided to delay big vaccine exports for now,
including to the WHO-backed global vaccine alliance COVAX. It is
currently using the AstraZeneca vaccine and a shot developed at home
by Bharat Biotech, which is struggling to step up supplies.
Osaka leg of Olympics torch relay should be cancelled, governor says
Osaka prefectural governor Hirofumi Yoshimura said on Thursday the
Olympic torch relay in the city of Osaka should be cancelled amid a
sharp rise in COVID-19 cases, Kyodo News reported. The torch relay
for the Tokyo Olympics is scheduled to go through Osaka prefecture
from April 13-14.
The prefecture, which emerged from a COVID-19 state of emergency a
month ago, reported 599 new cases on Wednesday, a jump from 432 on
Tuesday. "We will ask people to refrain from going out for
non-urgent matters," Kyodo quoted Yoshimura as telling reporters on
Thursday regarding COVID-19 countermeasures.
Americas coronavirus surge could be worse
Countries in the Americas could see a worse surge in coronavirus
cases than the previous surge last year, with Brazil, Uruguay and
Cuba already suffering more, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)
said on Wednesday. Director Carissa Etienne said the end of the
Southern Hemisphere summer, following holidays where people grouped
together and spread cases, had prompted spikes.
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 Vaccine supply "continues to be
our greatest challenge," said Etienne, with the
organisation scouring the globe for more
supplies and asking countries to hand over
surpluses. There have been "far too many
examples" of vaccine nationalism, she said. "The
current system is hard-wired for inequity and
that is not acceptable," Etienne said.
PNG minister raps Facebook for COVID
misinformation
Papua New Guinea's health minister said
misinformation shared on Facebook was the
biggest threat to its COVID-19 vaccine plans,
saying the social media giant must take steps to
stop it. Conspiracy theories
about COVID-19 and the efficacy of vaccines are so entrenched that
even frontline health workers are hesitant to take the shot, Jelta
Wong said at a talk with an Australian think tank that was streamed
online on Thursday.
Arthritis drug reduces potency of vaccine
The first dose of the COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and
from AstraZeneca Plc produces only weak immune responses in patients
being treated with the widely-used rheumatoid arthritis drug
infliximab, researchers have found. The responses improved after the
second dose, which suggests patients on infliximab should continue
to practice enhanced physical distancing and not delay their second
shot, researchers said.
Even after two doses, they found that a small subset of patients
failed to mount an antibody response. The researchers said they
suspect their findings will apply to other drugs in the class known
as TNF inhibitors, including Abbvie's Humira and Amgen's Enbrel, two
of the world's top-selling medicines.
 (Compiled by Karishma Singh; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
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