THE NETHERLANDS: The European Union started the approval process for its third vaccine on Tuesday as WHO scientists warned that herd immunity from coronavirus is unlikely this year even with mass inoculation schemes.
The 27-nation EU -- under fire for lengthy approval processes and slow national rollouts of virus shots -- promised an “accelerated timeline” after confirming drug company AstraZeneca had applied for approval for the jab it developed with Oxford University.
The EU's medicines agency said a decision would still not come before January 29, even though the drug is already being used in countries including Britain.
But the European Commission said Tuesday it had concluded exploratory talks with Franco-Austrian biotechnology laboratory Valneva for the possible purchase of up to 60 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine.
Switzerland meanwhile approved the Moderna vaccine on Tuesday, having already been the first country in continental Europe to start using the Pfizer-BioNTech jab.
Even with mass vaccinations however, World Health Organization scientists warned that coverage would still not be wide enough for population-level immunity this year.
“We are not going to achieve any levels of population immunity or herd immunity in 2021,” said WHO's chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan Monday.
The virus has already infected more than 90 million people worldwide and killed almost two million. European hospitals are increasingly warning of stretched resources and Asian countries are also facing surges in case.
Malaysia declared a state of emergency on Tuesday as fears grow that its health system is close to being overwhelmed, after China and Japan took measures against localised clusters.
The Netherlands became the latest European nation to tighten virus controls, extending its restrictions until February 9, including the closure of schools and non-essential shops, and a ban on people having more than two people in their homes.
And last week, 13 EU member states urged Brussels to help the bloc's eastern neighbours vaccinate their populations against coronavirus.
Malawi lost two senior members of government to the virus Tuesday, transport minister Sidik Mia and local government minister Lingson Belekanyama.
South Africa on Monday restricted movement across its land borders and extended recently imposed coronavirus restrictions, as it grappled with a surge in cases fuelled by a new virus strain.
The continent's most industrialised economy and worst Covid-hit country had already returned to partial lockdown last month and those restrictions remain in place.
The United States remains the worst-affected country, and has posted an average of more than 3,000 deaths a day over the last seven days, according to an AFP tally based on official sources.
- AFP
