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 DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
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EUROPE
* Germany's health minister said rising infections could mean that
curbs to slow the spread of the virus may have to be re-imposed.
* A French government spokesman said there was no reason for France
to reject the AstraZeneca/Oxford University vaccine, as Paris and
parts of the north entered a month-long lockdown.
* French prime minister will get the AstraZeneca vaccine on Friday.
* Hungary can start the first stage of easing restrictions once
another million citizens have been vaccinated, the prime minister
said.
* Greece considers lifting some restrictions as part of a plan for
gradually re-opening its fragile economy.
* Britain will slow its vaccine rollout next month due to a supply
crunch caused by a delay in a shipment of millions of AstraZeneca
shots from India and the need to test a large batch.
AMERICAS
* The United States plans to send roughly 4 million doses of
AstraZeneca's vaccine that it is not using to Mexico and Canada in
loan deals with the two countries, bowing to pressure to share
vaccine with its allies.
* The Canadian province of Ontario is entering a third wave of the
pandemic, Chief Medical Officer David Williams said, though he added
that it was not clear how quickly infections would rise.
* Cuba's drug regulatory authority on Thursday approved a second
COVID-19 vaccine candidate for late-stage clinical trials.
* As Brazil's outbreak spirals out of control, the country is facing
a dangerous new shortage, threatening to drive fatalities even
higher: lack of staff in intensive care units.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Australia welcomed the European drug regulator's decision to back
the AstraZeneca vaccine after a safety investigation as authorities
ramp up the country's immunisation drive next week.
[to top of second column] |
 * India's infections surged to
more than a three-month high, led by a record
daily increase in the western state of
Maharashtra. * South Korea's
capital, Seoul, will scrap a controversial order for all foreign
workers to be tested, after an outcry sparked complaints by
embassies and a human rights probe.
* The Philippines recorded a record daily increase in infections, as
authorities tightened curbs in Manila and approved Russia's Sputnik
V for emergency use. A first batch will be supplied in the first
half of April.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Tanzania's new president, Samia Suluhu Hassan, said the country
should unite and avoid pointing fingers after the death of her
predecessor, John Magufuli, a COVID-19 sceptic.
* The African Union said African countries should continue to use
AstraZeneca's vaccine, echoing WHO by saying the shot's benefits
outweighed risks.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* The European Medicines Agency said it had concluded the
AstraZeneca vaccine's benefits outweighed possible risks, but said a
link between the shot and rare cases of brain blood clots could not
be definitively ruled out.
* India's Stelis Biopharma has partnered with Russia's sovereign
fund to make at least 200 million doses of Sputnik V.
 * Johnson & Johnson is developing several next-generation vaccines
against emerging variants of the virus, its CEO said.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* U.S. bond yields edged off the 14-month highs reached the day
before as markets looked to a U.S. economic recovery, while oil
stabilised after a 7% slide. [MKTS/GLOB]
(Compiled by Federico Maccioni, Milla Nissi and Aditya Soni; editing
by Sriraj Kalluvila, Larry King)
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