(Reuters) – After three months of decline in global oil demand, COVID-19 vaccine roll-outs are set to unleash thirst for oil stymied by pandemic restrictions especially in Asia, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
* Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals https://apac1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/cms/?navid=1592404098 for a case tracker and summary of news
EUROPE
* The Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin was “absolutely healthy” despite self-isolating after members of his entourage fell ill with COVID-19.
* Britain’s vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said the British government had the right to cancel a deal with French drugmaker Valneva to supply a COVID-19 vaccine and had told the company it had done so.
* The European Commission approved a 3-billion-euro ($3.55-billion) French scheme to provide debt and capital support to virus-hit companies.
* British employers added a record 241,000 staff last month, official data showed, but the travel sector is bracing for a new wave of job cuts.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* New local COVID-19 cases more than doubled in China’s province of Fujian, health authorities said, prompting officials to quickly roll out measures including travel restrictions.
* Sydney’s cases rose at the slowest pace in nearly two weeks, but officials said they needed to see a steady drop in daily cases before deciding whether infections had peaked after 12 weeks in lockdown.
* The Philippines’ capital region will exit wide-scale restrictions from Thursday as the government launches a pilot test of localised lockdowns.
* Bali’s tourism industry is hoping for an uptick in business after social restrictions were eased for the resort island on Monday.
AMERICAS
* The governor of Iowa has said she will appeal a temporary order by a federal judge that aims to allow schools to enforce use of protective face masks.
* The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday warned against travel to Afghanistan, Albania, Serbia, Belize, Lithuania and four other destinations.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* About one in 10 children had symptoms that remained after recovering from COVID-19, though that number dropped by more than half as the months passed, an Israeli Health Ministry survey showed on Monday.
* Congo’s president, Felix Tshisekedi, has received his first dose of the Moderna vaccine, the government said on Monday, after a six-month wait caused by his unwillingness to take the AstraZeneca shot.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* A study of 614 fully vaccinated health workers in India found a “significant” drop in their COVID-fighting antibodies within four months of the first shot.
* South Korean biotech firm GL Rapha expects to win regulatory approval from Russia to export Sputnik Light vaccines this month, its chairman said.
* Additional vaccine booster shots are not needed for the general population, leading scientists said in an article published in a medical journal on Monday.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* World share markets barely moved and the dollar held steady, as investors awaited U.S inflation data for more clues on the health of the world’s largest economy and when the Federal Reserve could start to taper stimulus. [MKTS/GLOB]
* Barely a tenth of respondents in BoFA’s monthly survey expect a stronger global economy in the coming months, marking the lowest proportion since last April’s initial COVID-19 panic.
* China’s air passenger traffic dropped 51.5% in August from a year ago due to a resurgence of local outbreaks, the aviation authority said.
($1 = 0.8459 euros)
(Compiled by Juliette Portala and Devika Syamnath ; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Timothy Heritage)
