A paramedic waits outside the General Hospital for an available hospital bed for a patient showing symptoms of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to be admitted, in Mexico City, Mexico January 7, 2021. The sign reads "Respiratory emergencies." Picture was
The Trump administration said it is releasing millions of vaccine doses it had been holding back for second shots, while the Chinese city of Langfang went into lockdown as worries rose about the second wave in a country that has mostly contained COVID-19.
EUROPE
* Europe's drugs regulator will review the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University this month under an accelerated timeline.
* There is no national shortage of oxygen to treat patients but some may have to go to different hospitals when local capacity has been used up, British health minister Matt Hancock said.
* The Dutch government said it would extend lockdown measures by at least three weeks.
* Swedish cases crossed the 500,000 mark as hospitals struggled to cope with a rampant second wave.
* Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis called for the creation of an EU-wide, COVID-19 vaccination certificate to help restore cross-border travel.
* France is to provide daily updates on the number of people it has vaccinated as it comes under fire for its slow pace compared with other European countries.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Indonesia starts a mass vaccination campaign on Wednesday, amid record deaths from one of Asia's most stubborn epidemics.
* Japan is considering extending a state of emergency further beyond Tokyo to include Aichi prefecture and other central and western areas.
* Malaysia declared a state of emergency as it reported its biggest daily rise in cases since the start of the pandemic.
AMERICAS
* Ontario is on track to have more than 20,000 new cases per day by the middle of February, a nearly tenfold increase from the current count, according to a data model.
* A third Democratic U.S. lawmaker announced a positive test after being locked down for hours with other colleagues to avoid the mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol.
* Mexican health authorities will quickly make a decision on whether to authorize Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine after getting access to data on it.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Two senior Malawian cabinet ministers and two other senior political figures died from COVID-19.
* Nigeria is working on what type and quantity of vaccines to procure and will make financial provision for them in its 2021 budget. The country expects to receive 20% of the vaccines in donations.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* A vaccine developed by China's Sinovac showed "general efficacy" of 50.4% in a late-stage trial in Brazil, researchers said.
* British drugmaker GSK and U.S.-based Vir Biotechnology will evaluate a second antibody-based treatment in patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 in an early- to mid-stage trial.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* U.S. job openings fell moderately in November, but mounting layoffs amid rampant infections supported views that the labour market recovery from the pandemic was stalling.
* Money markets see an increased chance of the Bank of Canada cutting interest rates closer to zero, as tightening economic restrictions offset optimism that activity will rebound later this year.
