Headlines
• British pub revenues down 56% YoY in 2020
• Israel has vaccinated 40% of its population
• Heineken to cut 8,000 jobs globally
• Athens goes into new lockdown
World news
• Athens is to go back into lockdown tomorrow, with most shops shut and all schooling going online. Two weeks ago Kindergartens and primary and secondary schools reopened.
• Argentina has announced it has approved the emergency use of the Indian-made Covishield vaccine.
• Moderna has signed supply agreements for its vaccine with the governments of Taiwan (5 million doses) and Colombia (10 million).
• The US FDA has granted emergency use authorisation to Eli Lilly’s combination antibody therapy of two antibodies, bamlanivimab and etesevimab. According to studies, the treatment cut risks of hospitalisation and death by 70%.
• Japan will not be able to extract as many doses of the Pfizer vaccine as planned, due to a shortage of specialist syringes. The standard syringes in use in Japan are unable to extract the sixth and final dose from each vial.
• New Zealand approves Pfizer and BioNTech vaccines.
• The British Beer and Pub Association said trading restrictions and lockdowns knocked sales down 56% (£7.8bn) in 2020.
• Israel has administered vaccines to 40% of its 9m population.
• Bahrain has authorised Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine for emergency use.
• In Wales there are now approximately 2,200 Covid-related patients in Welsh hospitals – this is around 25% lower than the peak in January
Company news
Consumer
• Heineken – has announced plans to cut 8,000 jobs, nearly 10% of its workforce. The cuts are expected to affect 5% of the 2,300 employees in the UK.
