EU ‘will not renew’ Covid vaccine contracts with Astrazeneca and Johnson & Johnson April 14, 2021 The European Commission will not renew Covid vaccine contracts with Astrazeneca and Johnson & Johnson beyond their current expiry dates, according to Italian media reports. The EU will instead prioritise contracts with pharmaceutical companies that produce mRNA vaccines such as Moderna and Pfizer, Italian newspaper La Stampa reported. “The European Commission, in agreement with the [...]
Surge testing for South Africa Covid variant extended to Finchley, Barnet April 14, 2021 Surge testing is set to take place in the London borough of Barnet after one further case of the South Africa Covid variant was detected. Health officials will launch targeted testing for certain households in the Finchley area from tomorrow. People living in the N3 postcode and those who shop on the local high street [...]
No jab no job: Care home staff face compulsory Covid vaccinations April 14, 2021 Care home staff in England may face compulsory vaccination against Covid to prevent residents from catching the disease, the government has announced. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has launched a five-week consultation on the plans, which would see staff forced to receive a Covid jab as a condition of working in care [...]
EU turns to Pfizer for more Covid jabs amid fresh vaccine shortage April 14, 2021 The EU has ordered an extra 50m doses of the Pfizer/Biontech Covid vaccine following Johnson & Johnson’s surprise announcement yesterday that jab deliveries to Europe face significant delays. European Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen said this afternoon that the bloc will bring forward an order of 50m doses of the vaccine which had been [...]
‘Mix and match’ Covid vaccine trial extended to include Moderna and Novavax jabs April 14, 2021 A major trial in the UK that looks at whether Covid vaccines can be mixed and matched has been extended to include the Moderna and Novavax jabs. The Com-Cov study has been investigating the immune responses from people given a dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine followed by the Pfizer jab, and vice versa, according to [...]
Johnson & Johnson to delay rollout of Covid vaccine to Europe April 13, 2021 Johnson & Johnson has announced it will “proactively delay” the rollout of its Covid vaccine in Europe after the US paused the jab this afternoon amid blood clot concerns. In a statement, Johnson & Johnson said it was aware of extremely rare blood clots in combination with low platelets in a small number of patients [...]
Israel to welcome vaccinated Brits from May April 13, 2021 Israel is set to welcome vaccinated groups of travellers from May, the country’s tourism minister announced today, as the country storms ahead in the global inoculation race. The nation will open its gates to groups of foreigners from 23 May after more than a year of shuttered borders. The first stage of reopening will see [...]
Pfizer hikes cost of Covid vaccine for EU by 60 per cent April 13, 2021 Pfizer has hiked the cost of future orders of its coronavirus vaccine placed by the European Commission more than 60 per cent. Bulgarian Prime Minister Bokyo Borissov this morning said the US pharmaceutical giant has increased the cost of future orders sold to the EU from €12 per dose to €19.50. Borissov added that the [...]
Almost half of US Marines have declined Covid vaccine, data shows April 13, 2021 Around 40 per cent of US Marines have chosen not to receive a Covid-19 vaccination, according to new data. Data provided by the service shows that as of last week, 75,500 Marines have received a vaccination, while 48,000 have declined the jab. The declination rate at the Camp Lejeune facility in North Carolina was even [...]
WHO: World faces ‘critical point’ in the Covid pandemic April 12, 2021 The globe faces a “critical point” in the pandemic and needs an urgent “reality check” about how to combat spirally Covid infections, the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned. Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, Dr Maria van Kerkhove, head of the WHO’s technical response, said that the “trajectory of this pandemic is growing” [...]