(Reuters) – Britain approved the Regeneron/Roche COVID-19 antibody cocktail as the nation battles rising hospitalisations, while trial data from AstraZeneca raised the prospect of a new treatment beyond vaccines.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
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EUROPE
* The mass rollout of booster vaccines in Britain to people over 50 this autumn could be shelved, with government scientists considering limiting third doses only to the most vulnerable, the Telegraph reported.
* Danes with weak immune systems will soon be recommended to get a vaccine booster.
* Portugal has decided to loosen restrictions on the number of people allowed in restaurants and cultural venues two weeks earlier than planned, as the vaccination campaign moved faster than anticipated.
* Germany is designating parts of Greece as high-risk areas, meaning unvaccinated travellers from those regions would need to go into quarantine for five days.
* The estimated range for England’s COVID-19 reproduction “R” number rose to 0.9 to 1.2, compared with 0.8 to 1.0 in last week’s figures.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Nations from Australia to Vietnam announced more drastic curbs and longer lockdowns, as authorities struggle to rein in outbreaks of the highly infectious Delta variant.
* After 17 months of on-off lockdown measures in and around the Philippine capital Manila, its weary residents are hoping the latest easing of restrictions can breathe some life into an economy weighed down by the COVID-19 crisis.
AMERICAS
* The United States extended the closure of its land borders with Canada and Mexico to non-essential travel such as tourism through Sept. 21 despite Ottawa’s decision to open its border to vaccinated Americans.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* South Africans formed queues hundreds of metres long to get their COVID-19 shots, after the government made vaccinations available to all adults in order to hasten a rollout beset by challenges and delays.
* Jamaica will prohibit residents from leaving their homes for seven days spread over three weekends.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* India’s drug regulator has granted emergency use approval for Zydus Cadila’s vaccine, the world’s first DNA shot against the coronavirus, in adults and children aged 12 years and above.
* Johnson & Johnson has sought approval from Indian drug regulators to conduct a study of its vaccine among 12- to 17-year-olds.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Stocks recovered ground on Friday amid concerns about global economic growth amid rising coronavirus cases, which continued to weigh down oil and boost safe-havens like gold.[[MKTS/GLOB]
* Dallas Federal Reserve President Robert Kaplan, among the U.S. central bank’s most forceful supporters for starting to reduce support for the economy, said he may need to adjust that view if the Delta variant slows economic growth materially.
(Compiled by Devika Syamnath and Federico Maccioni; Edited by Robert Birsel and Arun Koyyur)
