February 5 (Reuters) – With more than 100 million cases, stay up to date with the latest analysis, updates and insights on the global spread of coronavirus.
Japan
The number of COVID-19 infections in Tokyo may have jumped by nine-fold since last summer, coronavirus antibody tests showed, as Japan tries to rein in the country’s third and most lethal wave of the pandemic ahead of the Olympics in July.
Random testing on people in Japan’s capital in December showed that 0.91% had antibodies to the virus, compared with about 0.1% in a similar study in June, health ministry said in a report on Friday according to Reuters.
Drugmaker AstraZeneca PLC said on Friday it had applied for approval in Japan of its COVID-19 vaccine, making it the second pharmaceutical firm to do so after Pfizer Inc.
South Korea
A panel of South Korean advisers has urged caution over the use of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine for people older than 65, citing a lack of data, the food and drug safety ministry said on Friday according to Reuters.
Brazil
Brazil is in talks to buy an additional 20 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech, the governor of Sao Paulo told Reuters in a Thursday interview, in a show of confidence in the Chinese shot reported Reuters.
India
Pfizer Inc said on Friday it had withdrawn an application for emergency-use authorisation of its COVID-19 vaccine in India, after failing to meet the drug regulator’s demand for a local safety and immunogenicity study.
The decision means the vaccine will not be available for sale in the world’s two most populous countries, India and China, in the near future. Both countries are running their immunisation campaigns using other products stated reuters.
