(Reuters) – Australia’s new daily cases of COVID-19 topped 1,000 on Thursday for the first time since the global pandemic began, as two major hospitals in Sydney set up emergency outdoor tents to help deal with a rise in patients.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
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EUROPE
* Britain’s Health Department said it has not made any decision on COVID-19 vaccines for 12 to 15-year-olds after the Telegraph reported the National Health Service planned vaccinations from the first week children return to school in September.
* The British public’s view of the government’s management of the coronavirus crisis has turned negative for the first time since February and they are worried about the risk of a new wave of infections, according to a survey.
* Europe’s medicines regulator has approved additional manufacturing sites for mRNA-based coronavirus vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
* Switzerland ordered millions more doses of COVID-19 vaccine as it braced for a resurgent wave of coronavirus that could require more restrictions on public life.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Moderna Inc said it has withheld supply of about 1.63 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in Japan after a report of contamination of vials with particulate matter, which it suspects involves a production line in Spain.
* New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the strict nationwide lockdown enforced to stamp out COVID-19 was helping limit the spread of the highly infectious Delta variant, even as the number of new cases rose.
AMERICAS
* U.S. health regulators could approve a third COVID-19 shot for adults beginning at least six months after full vaccination, instead of the previously announced eight-month gap.
* New York Governor Kathy Hochul revealed 12,000 more people died of COVID-19 than was reported under her disgraced predecessor, making good on her promise for greater transparency on just her second day leading the state.
* All City of Chicago employees and volunteers will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Oct. 15, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said, adding that employees can apply for medical or religious exemptions.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Iran reported a record daily 709 deaths from COVID-19 as the worst-hit country in the Middle East faced a fifth surge in infections.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Pfizer Inc said a booster dose of its two-shot COVID-19 vaccine spurs a more than threefold increase in antibodies against the coronavirus, as the company seeks U.S. regulatory approval for a third injection.
* Moderna Inc has completed the real-time review process needed for a full approval for its COVID-19 vaccine in people aged 18 years and above.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Asian shares stepped back on Thursday after a sharp rebound this week, though a solid Wall Street performance overnight contained losses in the region as rising vaccinations offset some of the worries over persistently high COVID-19 cases worldwide. [MKTS/GLOB]
(Compiled by Krishna Chandra Eluri, Aditya Soni and Veronica Snoj; Editing by Giles Elgood, Arun Koyyur and Subhranshu Sahu)
