Coronavirus - 26 April

Headlines

• The European Commission says it has launched legal action against vaccine maker AstraZeneca. It brought the case on Friday, accusing the company of not having a “reliable” plan for ensuring timely delivery of vaccines.

• India has asked the EU to send medical oxygen and Gilead’s antiviral drug remdesivir, an EU official said today.

• The southern Indian state of Karnataka, which includes the city of Bengaluru, will impose a lockdown for 14 days starting from 27 April.

• Germany has announced it will send oxygen and medical aid to India

• A number of overseas cricketers have ended their time in the Indian Premier League in order to return home amid Covid-19 concerns.

• The UK government has ruled out holding an urgent inquiry into its handling of the pandemic.

• In Scotland, shops, gyms, swimming pools, pubs, restaurants and cafes reopen today.

• In Wales, pubs, cafes and restaurants are reopening to customers outdoors.

• People will now have to pre-book to park to walk up Snowden, to stop queues forming at the summit.

• Singapore and Hong Kong have agreed to start a quarantine-free travel bubble between the two cities from 26 May.

• In France, nursery and primary school pupils are going back to lessons after three weeks away, with secondary age students returning next week.

• In Belgium, residents are no longer required to make an appointment to visit non-essential shops, but cafes and restaurants do not yet offer outdoor table service.

• Perth, Australia, will end its three-day lockdown at midnight.

• Montenegro is to allow back tourists from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus without restrictions.

• Greece has detected its first case of the Indian variant in the Athens area.

• From today, Greece will lift quarantine restrictions on visitors from more countries, including Australia and Russia.

• New restrictions come into force in Thailand today. Wearing masks is now compulsory in public spaces; authorities in the capital have also closed a raft of venues, including cinemas, parks, gyms, swimming pools, spas and nurseries.

• Kazakhstan has rolled out its own vaccine. QazCovid-in, also known as QazVac, is a two-shot vaccine that is in third-stage trials.



Company news

Healthcare

Sanofi – said it would help supply up to 200m doses of Moderna’s vaccine at its Ridgefield facility in New Jersey. The deal marks Sanofi’s third such agreement this year. In January, it pledged to help supply over 125m doses of Pfizer vaccine from this summer. In February, it said it would fill and finish vials of Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot vaccine at a rate of approximately 12m doses per month.