 | | | | France's top health advisory body in charge of COVID-19 vaccines recommended on Friday that recipients of a first dose of the AstraZeneca shot who are under 55 should receive a second dose with a so-called messenger RNA vaccine. | | | | | | An estimated 1 in 340 people in England had COVID-19 in latest figures from Britain's Office For National Statistics, a slightly higher prevalence compared to the 1 in 370 figure given last week. | | | | | | (Reuters) -A government panel of experts is investigating for any domestic cases of blood clotting, even mild ones, as a side effect of the two COVID-19 vaccines being administered in India, financial daily Mint reported on Friday, citing two people aware of the development. | | | | | | NEW DELHI (Reuters) -India reported another record number of new COVID-19 infections on Friday and daily deaths hit their highest in more than five months, as it battles a second wave of infections and states complain of a persistent vaccine shortage. | | | | | | A highly contagious variant of COVID-19 first identified in Britain is now predominant in Cyprus, its health ministry said on Friday, linking it to a recent surge in infections. | | | | | | Europe's drug regulator on Wednesday said it had found a possible link between AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine and very rare blood clots in adults who received the shot. Britain recommended people under 30 get an alternative COVID-19 vaccine if possible. | | | | | | Russia's health watchdog said on Friday it had not registered any deaths linked to domestically-produced coronavirus vaccines and that negative side-effects occurred in no more than 0.1% of cases. | | | | | | At least a dozen Bangkok hospitals reported they had stopped testing for coronavirus as of Friday over a lack of kits or capacity amid a new outbreak, as Thailand said it was working to increase its vaccine supply with private imports. | | | | | | The largest COVID-19 vaccination centre in the Czech Republic was put through its paces on Friday, but it will not be fully operational until May as the country badly hit by the pandemic waits for more vaccine shots. | | | | | | BERLIN (Reuters) -German Chancellor Angela Merkel plans to take control from federal states to impose restrictions on regions with high numbers of new coronavirus infections, a government spokeswoman said, as Germany struggles to curb a third wave of the pandemic. | | | | | | TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan's government placed Tokyo under a new, month-long "quasi-emergency" state to combat surging COVID-19 case numbers on Friday, less than a month after the capital and host of the Summer Olympics lifted a broader state of emergency. | | | | | |
