(Reuters) – Pfizer Inc has told India there was no concern over the safety of its COVID-19 vaccine, as the country insists on small local trials for foreign shots despite a record surge in infections and shortage of doses.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS * Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals here for a case tracker and summary of news
EUROPE
* Denmark became the first country to exclude Johnson & Johnson’s shots from its vaccination programme over a potential link to a rare but serious form of blood clot.
* Novavax has told the European Union it plans to begin delivering its COVID-19 vaccine to the bloc towards the end of this year, new guidance that could lead to a formal contract being signed as early as this week, an EU official told Reuters.
* Germans who are fully vaccinated should be exempt from quarantine on re-entering Germany, Health Minister Jens Spahn said after the government cabinet discussed plans to lift restrictions for people who have had their shots.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* India pulled trainee doctors from exams to fight the world’s biggest COVID-19 surge, as its vaccinations plummeted from an all-time high reached early last month.
* Pfizer is in discussions with India seeking an “expedited approval pathway” for its vaccine, CEO Albert Bourla said on LinkedIn, announcing a donation of medicines worth more than $70 million.
* Taiwan became the latest place to ban arrivals from India, as it moves to prevent new infections, with more nations reporting cases of a variant first identified in the subcontinent.
AMERICAS
* U.S. President Joe Biden is imposing new travel restrictions on India starting on Tuesday, and barring most non-U.S. citizens from entering the United States.
* New York, New Jersey and Connecticut will lift most of their coronavirus capacity restrictions on businesses beginning on May 19.
* As Canada’s vaccination campaign ramps up, people at higher risk of transmitting COVID-19 often lack the resources to navigate labyrinthine booking systems or the documentation that would ease their path to inoculation.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Kuwaiti citizens who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 will not be able to travel abroad from May 22, the information ministry said.
* Tanzania announced new anti-coronavirus measures, saying it wanted to prevent the importation of new variants.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Venezuela this month will begin clinical trials of the Cuban coronavirus vaccine candidate Abdala, and plans to produce enough doses locally to vaccinate 4 million people.
* Novavax said it had expanded the late-stage study testing its COVID-19 vaccine candidate to include up to 3,000 adolescents aged 12 to 17.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* A gauge of global equity markets was not far from a record on Monday as investors remain bullish about the economic recovery ahead of more corporate results and U.S. data that is expected to underline the strength of the rebound.
* U.S. manufacturing activity grew at a slower pace in April, restrained by shortages of inputs as rising vaccinations and massive fiscal stimulus unleashed pent-up demand.
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