Headlines
• Study finds 25% of EU residents ‘unlikely’ to take vaccine
• Crime rates in England and Wales fell 8% in 2020
• Ohio introduces $1m lottery for those that have had a vaccine
• Russia records first case of the Indian variant
• Brazil suspends AZ vaccine for pregnant women
World news
• In England 67.6% of those aged 40-44 have had their first vaccine. 77.9% of people aged 45 to 49, 89.8% of 50- to 54-year-olds, 95.5% of 55- to 59-year-olds and 97.2% of people aged 60 and above.
• Ohio will award cash prizes of $1m to five recipients of vaccines as part of a lottery launched to boost vaccine uptake.
• A study into mixing doses of the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines has shown it increased mild to moderate side effects such as chills, headaches and muscle pain. But these effects were short-lived and there were no other safety concerns. Link
• Australia has secured 25m doses of the Moderna vaccine.
• Hungary started giving vaccines to 16-18-year-olds today.
• A&E attendances at hospitals in England increased to 1.87m in April 2021, up from 917,000 in April 2020. The equivalent figure for April 2019, a non-pandemic year, was 2.11m.
• Crime recorded by police in England and Wales fell by 8% in 2020 according to the ONS:
• The Champions League final between Chelsea and Manchester City will take place in Porto, Portugal. The game on 29 May has been moved from Turkey.
• People aged 18 and over in the three areas of Blackburn will be able to book an appointment for a Pfizer vaccine from next week.
• McDonald’s has announced it is partnering with the US White House to promote vaccination information on its coffee cups.
• Brazil’s federal government nationally suspended the vaccination of pregnant women with the AstraZeneca vaccine.
• In Japan, of 528 towns registered to welcome international Olympic competitors, about 40 have decided not to accept athletes for training camps and cultural exchanges before.
• Russia records first case of the Indian variant.
• At least two Indian states have said they plan to dose their populations with the anti-parasitic drug ivermectin to protect against severe infections, against WHO guidelines.
• A survey looking at vaccine hesitancy, has found that more than a quarter of adults in the EU would be unlikely to take the vaccine when it is offered to them. The results also suggested a strong link between vaccine hesitancy and the use of social media.
