(Reuters) – Two doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine appear to have given 70% protection against hospitalisation in South Africa in recent weeks, a major real-world study on the potential impact of the new Omicron variant showed on Tuesday.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
EUROPE
* The former head of Britain’s vaccine task force said the vaccines would need to become cheaper to administer to ensure countries do not have to spend so much.
* Russia has still not handed over all the information needed for its flagship Sputnik V vaccine to be approved by the World Health Organization because of differences in regulatory standards, the Kremlin said.
* British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces a large rebellion among his Conservative lawmakers in a parliamentary vote over new restrictions. Its deputy said that there were 10 people in hospital with Omicron.
* Germany’s new health minister wants to exempt people who have had a booster vaccination from having to take a test before entering some leisure facilities, according to a document drafted by his ministry.
* France is contemplating tightening controls for travellers coming from Britain, where the Omicron variant seems to be rapidly spreading, the government spokesman said.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* No one has died from the Omicron variant in a study of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine in South Africa, one of the co-lead investigators of the study said.
* Nigeria will destroy about one million expired vaccines, according to the head of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency. The country is also taking diplomatic steps to try to reverse travel bans on it, the aviation minister said on Monday.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Multiple companies have suspended operations in one of China’s biggest and busiest manufacturing hubs as authorities double down to contain a COVID-19 outbreak.
* Private pharmaceutical companies in Indonesia will be allowed to directly import COVID-19 vaccines to “balance the market”, its health minister said.
* Singapore is considering requiring its residents to get a booster shot to qualify as fully vaccinated against COVID-19, its health minister said.
* Health authorities in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou have detected one infection of the Omicron variant, the state broadcaster CCTV said.
* Malaysia’s health ministry said it had given conditional approval for the use of the single-dose antibody cocktail developed by Regeneron and Roche.
AMERICAS
* Cases in Canada may rapidly rise in coming days due to community spread of the Omicron variant, mirroring the situation in its most populous province of Ontario, Canada’s top health official said on Monday.
* The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday advised Americans against travel to Italy, Greenland and Mauritius, citing COVID-19 concerns.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* The Serum Institute of India plans to launch the Novavax vaccine for children in the country in six months, its CEO said.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* European shares rose, bucking the weakness in Asia and on Wall Street as investors looked beyond the spread of the Omicron variant and sought to buy any dip in stock prices ahead of a slew of central bank decisions this week. [MKTS/GLOB]
* A surge in cases and the emergence of the Omicron variant will dent global demand for oil, the International Energy Agency said, but the broader picture is one of increasing output set to top demand this month and soar next year.
* Norway’s government said it plans to reintroduce loan guarantees for companies facing liquidity shortages as a result of recently introduced lockdown measures.
(Compiled by Boleslaw Lasocki and Devika Syamnath ; Edited by Subhranshu Sahu)
