The World Health Organization (WHO) exhorted the world to keep administering AstraZeneca's COVID-19 shots on Friday, adding its endorsement to that of European and British regulators after concerns over blood clotting.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson received his first dose of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine on Friday and urged the public to do the same, saying “he did not feel a thing.”
The Falkland Islands Government has received confirmation that it will receive a third batch of Covid-19 vaccines and, while the exact timing is yet to be confirmed, it is anticipated that these will arrive in the week beginning 22 March.
Regular booster vaccines against the coronavirus will be needed because of mutations that make it more transmissible and better able to evade human immunity, the head of Britain's effort to sequence the virus' genomes said.
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) announced a first-of-its kind initiative that would help Latin American and Caribbean countries better compete to obtain lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines. The instrument would help both countries and vaccine makers resolve indemnity obligations, thereby removing a key obstacle to vaccine contract negotiations.
All surviving former US presidents except Mr Donald Trump have teamed up in a video urging Americans to get vaccinated against Covid-19. Mr Jimmy Carter, Mr George W. Bush, Mr Bill Clinton and Mr Barack Obama - and the former First Ladies, appear in the one-minute spot released on Thursday, endorsing the US vaccination campaign and sharing what they miss about pre-pandemic life.
Europe approved Johnson & Johnson's single-dose COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday and is expected to be delivered in a month. The COVID-19 shot is the fourth to be endorsed for use in the European Union after vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca-Oxford University, and Moderna, and is recommended for those over 18 years of age, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said.
Spain could be ready to start rolling out coronavirus vaccine ‘passports’ by the end of May, paving the way to welcome back holidaymakers, Minister of tourism, María Reyes Maroto, said on Wednesday.
European Council President Charles Michel on Tuesday rejected charges of vaccine nationalism leveled against the EU, saying that while Britain and the United States have outright bans on exports of COVID-19 shots, the EU had not stopped exporting.
Global gross domestic product (GDP) will grow at 5.6% this year if vaccination rollout is fast and effective enough across the world, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said Tuesday in its Interim Economic Outlook.