A nurse washes a Covid-19 patient at a hospital in Pierre-Benite, France, on Jan. 25.
Sanofi will produce millions of doses of Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE’s coronavirus vaccine to speed the European Union’s lagging immunization efforts.
A standoff between the EU and drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc over vaccine delivery delays, meantime, turned from bitter to chaotic on Wednesday, with the two sides disagreeing over whether a planned call to resolve the issue would take place.
Covid-19 cases surpassed 100 million globally, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The U.K. became the first nation in Europe with 100,000 deaths.
Key Developments:
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Astra, EU Can’t Agree Whether Crunch Vaccine Call Is Still On (6:38 a.m. NY)
The European Commission says that a crunch call over vaccine-delivery delays with AstraZeneca has been canceled after the drugmaker pulled out. A spokesperson for AstraZeneca, meantime, said the company still plans to join the call Wednesday evening, contradicting the commission spokeswoman.
The conflicting accounts add to the confusion over the deliveries of life-saving shots, after the EU and Astra clashed over accounts of the clauses in the vaccine supply contract.
Japan Ousted From EU Travel ‘White List’ (6:19 a.m. NY)
The European Union shuts its door to visitors from Japan following a surge in coronavirus cases there, according to an EU official.
EU governments decided to remove Japan from their common list of countries whose residents should be allowed to visit the bloc during the pandemic, the official said on the condition of anonymity; the update of the EU’s recommended travel “white list” keeps the U.S. and most other nations off it.
The ouster of Japan -- approved by EU member-country envoys at a meeting in Brussels following a recommendation by experts -- shrinks the European list of permitted travel to residents of just seven states: Australia, China, New Zealand, Rwanda, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand.
EU Officials Say Astra Pulls Out of Crunch Call (6:30 p.m. HK)
AstraZeneca has pulled out of a meeting scheduled for Wednesday evening with the EU about the planned rollout of the company’s Covid-19 vaccine, according to EU officials.
The EU is pressing Astra to reconsider the move because the bloc wants the company to explain delivery delays to member countries, one of the officials said on the condition of anonymity.
Paris Region Finds 9.4% of Cases Are U.K. Variant (6:18 p.m. HK)
The more contagious variant of Covid-19 first found in the U.K. is becoming more prevalent in the Paris region, according to data from hospital operator AP-HP. Analysis of 1,080 positive Covid tests between Jan. 11 and Jan. 21 found 9.4% were the U.K. strain.
The data was collected at eight testing sites and not representative of all Paris-region laboratories, but “what we can see is that there is still a tendency for the circulation of the English variant to increase since Jan. 1,” Anne-Geneviève Marcelin, a virologist at Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris, said in a press briefing on Tuesday.
China’s Zero-Tolerance Approach Now Includes Anal Swabs (4:01 p.m. HK)
China is ramping up efforts to neutralize the coronavirus as new outbreaks test its already stringent pandemic strategy, with another weapon added to an arsenal of border curbs, mass testing and hard lockdowns: anal swabs.
While there is no nationwide policy on use of the technique, some residents in China’s northern regions -- where the flare-up now amounts to more than 1,700 cases -- have been subjected to the anal swabs with little warning. It involves the insertion of a saline-soaked cotton swab about two-to-three centimeters into the anus, with the sample then tested for active traces of the virus.
More than 1,000 schoolchildren and teachers in Beijing were given anal, throat and nose swabs last week, along with a separate antibody test, after one asymptomatic virus case was detected on campus, according to local officials.
Sanofi to Make Millions of BioNTech-Pfizer’s Covid Vaccine Doses (4 p.m. HK)
Sanofi’s agreement to produce BioNTech and Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine will yield more than 125 million doses for the European Union starting this summer.
The French drugmaker will give BioNTech access to a production facility in Frankfurt. Sanofi’s own effort to develop a vaccine with another big pharma firm, GlaxoSmithKline Plc, stumbled in clinical tests, meaning it won’t be ready by summer as expected. The production agreement allows the region to make up for some of the loss, accelerating the complex process of packaging and distributing a vaccine that needs to be kept at ultra-cold temperatures.
France Lockdown Would Be Last Resort Move (3:50 p.m. HK)
France will only turn to a lockdown as a “last resort,” according to Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire. The government wants to evaluate the impact of the 6 p.m. curfew implemented earlier this month and the spread of new variants, Labor Minister Elisabeth Borne said.
“We must pay attention to the psychological state of the country before taking a decision,” she said. Borne said French authorities are looking at the unrest in the Netherlands, were three evenings of riots led to hundreds of arrests.
Moscow Further Eases Restrictions (2:37 p.m. HK)
Moscow further eased restrictions as the pandemic “is on the decline,” Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in a blog post.
Thailand Set to Relax More Curbs (1:30 p.m. HK)
Thailand is set to further relax curbs to allow parts of its economy to reopen after local infections in some regions eased.
Schools in most provinces, including the capital Bangkok, may reopen from Feb. 1 with some restrictions while restaurants will be allowed to serve patrons until 11 p.m., said a spokesman for the Center for Covid-19 Situation Administration.
Singapore Begins Vaccinating the Elderly (1:23 p.m. HK)
Singapore began giving seniors vaccinations under a pilot scheme in certain areas that will eventually be expanded more broadly in the city-state, the Straits Times reported.
China Has Administered 23 Million Vaccine Doses (11:39 a.m. HK)
China has administered 23 million coronavirus vaccine doses, Zeng Yixin, vice head of the country’s National Health Commission, said at a briefing.
Philippines to Require Tests for Incoming Passengers (11:31 a.m. HK)
The Philippines will require all incoming passengers starting February to be tested on the fifth day of their 14-day mandatory quarantine. If the results are negative, they will be allowed to travel to other parts of the country, where they will have to finish their quarantine.
Peru Locks Down Lima, Other Regions (11:18 a.m. HK)
Peru locked down parts of the country after an explosion in new infections overwhelmed hospitals and pushed the death toll from the disease over 40,000.
The government will impose a strict lockdown on 10 regions including the Lima Metropolitan area for 15 days starting Jan. 31, President Francisco Sagasti said in a televised address. People are allowed only to leave home to buy food and medicine.
Japan to Proceed With Olympic Preparations (10:12 a.m. HK)
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said his government will proceed with preparations for hosting the Olympics this summer with the International Olympic Committee and Tokyo organizers as questions persist about holding the event during the pandemic. The government is examining specific measures to prevent the spread of the virus at the games, Suga told parliament.
South Korean Cases Rise (8:40 a.m. HK)
South Korea reported 559 new cases in the last 24 hours, according to data from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s website. That’s the biggest gain in almost two weeks.
Health officials blamed the latest surge on cluster outbreaks at dormitory-style cram schools. Since Sunday, nearly 300 students and teachers at six schools operated by IM Mission have tested positive for the virus, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. A school official apologized on the organization’s website for dismissing symptoms as signs of a cold and not acting more quickly.
U.K. to Bring in Hotel Quarantine for Highest-Risk Arrivals (7:40 a.m. HK)
The U.K. government will introduce a limited hotel quarantine system for passengers arriving from the highest-risk countries, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The move is aimed at curbing the spread of new variants and is expected to apply to arrivals from countries such as South Africa and Brazil.
Japan Likely to Extend State of Emergency, Kyodo Says (7:24 a.m. HK)
Japan is likely to extend its state of emergency set to expire Feb. 7, Kyodo reported, citing several unidentified people. An option being considered is to extend the emergency until the end of February.
The country will probably know in the next few days whether its emergency declaration to contain the virus has been effective, the head of an advisory panel on the pandemic told a parliamentary committee Wednesday.
Netherlands Quiet After Days of Unrest (5:45 a.m. HK)
Three straight days of riots in Dutch cities gave way to calm on Tuesday, as protests against a curfew and other restrictions led to only minor incidents in cities including Amsterdam and Rotterdam.
Dutch police officers patrol in the streets of Rotterdam during curfew on Jan. 26.
Photographer: ANP/AFP/Getty Images
In Maastricht in the south of the country, soccer fans marched in the streets just before curfew to show support for the police.
Biden Pushes for Bigger Vaccine Supply (5:30 a.m. HK)
The Biden administration said it intends to order 100 million more doses each of Pfizer and Moderna Inc.’s coronavirus vaccines, and at least temporarily speed up shipments to states to about 10 million doses a week.
The new purchases would increase U.S. orders for the two approved vaccines by 50% to about 600 million shots, according to a senior administration official. Delivering 10 million doses to states would represent about a 16% increase from the current weekly pace, though the higher pace may only last three weeks.
Bulgaria Easing Restrictions (2:53 a.m. HK)
Bulgaria is gradually easing measures after it went into partial lockdown at the end of November, when it reached the EU’s highest coronavirus death rate. All schools will reopen in the next month, and movie theaters and gyms will reopen from Feb. 1 with limited capacity, the health ministry said. Bars, restaurants and night clubs will remain closed until March 1. All arrivals will need to present a negative PCR test result upon entering the country.
N.J. Considers Relaxing Curbs (2:44 a.m. HK)
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said he will consider easing restrictions if data continue to improve.
“We’re in the plateau,” Murphy, a first-term Democrat who is seeking re-election in November, said Tuesday during an interview on Bloomberg Television.
WATCH: New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, a Democrat, discusses the potential for loosening coronavirus restrictions.
Source: Bloomberg)
Murphy didn’t say what restrictions he may loosen. New Jersey was the second-hardest hit after New York in the initial wave of Covid-19 that struck in March. The resurgence that began with colder weather is showing signs of leveling off following a holiday surge.
EMA Chief Sees Pfizer Supply Boost in April (2:20 a.m. HK)
European Medicines Agency Executive Director Emer Cooke signaled that Pfizer is gearing up to increase deliveries to European Union countries of the vaccine developed with BioNTech with production at more sites.
The Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine.
Photographer: Oliver Bunic/Bloomberg
“They have already submitted a protocol to include additional sites and we expect those to come through during February-March,” Cooke told a European Parliament committee on Tuesday.
EU to Shut Door to Travelers From Japan (2:10 a.m. HK)
European Union governments plan to remove Japan from their list of countries whose residents should be allowed to visit the bloc during the current phase of the pandemic, according to an EU official familiar with the matter.
An update to the EU’s recommended travel “white list” continues to exclude the U.S. and all but seven other nations, the official said Tuesday, asking not to be identified because the deliberations were confidential.
The removal of Japan as a result of increased virus cases in the country leaves just Australia, China, New Zealand, Rwanda, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand as approved places of departure.
U.K. Surpasses 100,000 Deaths (1:01 a.m. HK)
More than 100,000 people have died from coronavirus in the U.K., the first country in Europe to pass the threshold.
Deaths in London, which is at the center of the current outbreak, are running at 84% above the five-year average amid concerns a new strain of the virus is more fatal. There are 37,561 patients hospitalized with Covid-19 across the country.
— With assistance by Marthe Fourcade, Helene Fouquet, Joost Akkermans, and Tim Loh
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