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 India launches biggest vaccination drive yet
India began vaccinating tens of thousands of people above the age of
45 on Thursday in its biggest push yet against a surging coronavirus
that has hit the highest daily count since early October, officials
said.
The world's second most populous country aims to immunise 400
million people after expanding the programme, which had been
restricted to the over-60s and people with serious health
conditions, said a government official.
Anxious people lined up early at New Delhi's Max hospital to get
shots of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine produced by the Serum
Institute of India, the world's biggest maker of vaccines.
Macron orders lockdown across all of France
President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday ordered France into its third
national lockdown and said schools would close for three weeks as he
sought to push back a third wave of infections that threatens to
overwhelm hospitals.
With the death toll nearing 100,000, intensive care units in the
hardest-hit regions at breaking point and a slower-than-planned
vaccine rollout, Macron was forced to abandon his goal of keeping
the country open to protect the economy.
"We will lose control if we do not move now," the president said in
a televised address to the nation.
Poles scramble to sign up for jabs
Poles rushed to sign up for COVID-19 vaccinations on Thursday after
the government unexpectedly opened registrations for people aged
over 40 overnight, in a sudden shift that led to so many
applications that an online system crashed.
Over 2 million Poles have so far received both shots of a vaccine,
but the prime minister's top aide, who has been put in charge of the
vaccination programme, said slower rates of registration among older
Poles meant the government had decided to widen access.
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 The nation of 38 million people
is in the grip of a damaging third wave of the
pandemic, which has pushed its health service to
its limits.
Japan announces emergency measures in Osaka area
Japan's government said on Thursday it would
impose emergency measures, such as shorter
business hours and asking people to work from
home and refrain from activities like karaoke,
in the western region of Osaka to halt a rebound
in COVID-19 cases.
Osaka governor Hirofumi Yoshimura said Olympic
torch events in the prefecture's main city
should be cancelled, a day after he raised the
alarm about an emerging fourth wave of
infections.
New infections in Osaka have exceeded those of
the much larger metropolis of Tokyo in recent
days.
Australia lifts Brisbane lockdown
Australia ended a lockdown of its third-biggest
city Brisbane on Thursday, just in time for
Easter holidays, as only one new locally
transmitted case in Queensland state eased fears
of a widespread outbreak.
 Video and photos on social media showed people
wearing masks checking in at cafes and
restaurants for lunch or having beer at bars as
Brisbane emerged from its three-day snap
lockdown at noon local time.
Residents are, however, still required to wear
masks in public and some social distancing
restrictions will remain in place.
(Compiled by Linda Noakes; Editing by Edmund
Blair)
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