(Reuters) – A White House plan to mandate COVID-19 vaccination or repeated testing for around two-thirds of U.S. workers could be hampered by supply challenges as test manufacturers strain to keep pace with demand.
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
* Italy’s medicines agency AIFA said it had approved the use of a third dose of COVID-19 vaccines for vulnerable groups of the population, while the country’s government ruled catering and cleaning staff in schools and nursing homes can only work if they have proof of COVID-19 immunity.
* Spain’s coronavirus incidence slipped below 150 cases per 100,000 people – a threshold the Health Ministry considers a “high risk” of contagion – for the first time in more than two months.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Japan extended emergency COVID-19 restrictions in Tokyo and other regions until the end of this month to curb infections and prevent hospitals being overwhelmed.
* Australia’s daily cases topped 1,900 for the first time in the pandemic on Friday as a Delta outbreak continued to gain ground in Sydney and Melbourne.
* Auckland’s cases dropped again as New Zealand pressed on with Delta curbs.
AMERICAS
* U.S. President Joe Biden took aim at vaccine resistance in America, announcing policies requiring most federal employees to get COVID-19 vaccinations and pushing large employers to have their workers inoculated or tested weekly.
* Los Angeles County school officials ordered vaccinations for all students aged 12 and over, the largest school district in the United States to take that step.
* The Transportation Security Administration is doubling fines for first-time offenders who fail to wear masks, effective Friday, and said repeat offenders could face fines as high as $3,000.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Kenya’s economic output contracted for the first time in nearly three decades last year, pummelled by the impact of the pandemic, official data showed.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* China’s Sinovac Biotech will trial its COVID-19 vaccine in children and adolescents in South Africa as part of a global Phase III study, Sinovac and local partner Numolux Group said.
* Moderna said it was developing a single-dose vaccine that combines a booster dose against COVID-19 and a booster against flu.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Asian shares rallied on Friday after two days of losses, but were still in a nervous mood as global investors grapple with how best to interpret central banks’ cautious moves to end stimulus, which also left currency markets quiet.[MKTS/GLOB]
* The Bank of England will raise borrowing costs by end-2022, earlier than previously thought, and there is a chance it comes even sooner as a solid economic recovery from the pandemic and high inflation may tip its hand, a Reuters poll found.
(Compiled by Devika Syamnath and Amy Caren Daniel; Edited by Sriraj Kalluvila and Shounak Dasgupta)
