A first for Pakistan: Oxford vaccine gets emergency use authorisation

Pakistan has approved the emergency use of Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine and the government hopes to make the drug available by the first quarter of the year, as the country’s coronavirus tally surged to 519,291.

 

Special Assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan on Health Dr Faisal Sultan confirmed on Saturday that the Drug Regulatory Authority Pakistan (DRAP) has granted approval for emergency use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine across the country, according to a report in the Geo TV.

 

Minister for Planning Asad Umar, who is also the chief of National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), the country's coronavirus control body, said that the vaccine will be rolled out by March, the report said.

 

In the first phase, the vaccine will be given to health workers and those aged 65 years and above, Umar said.

 

China to donate 500K vax doses to Philippines

 

China will donate 500,000 vaccine doses to the Philippines as relations between the two improve as they cooperate to fight the coronavirus. The pledge was made by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday in Manila, where he met with his Filipino counterpart Teodoro Locsin. Bloomberg

 

Aus seeks death info from Pfizer

 

Australia said it will seek information from Pfizer and health authorities in Norway, after the Nordic nation expressed increasing concern about the safety of the vaccine on elderly people with serious underlying health conditions. Norway raised its estimate of the number who died after receiving inoculations to 29.

 

New cases in the US slowed, and infections in New York state fell from a record. Confirmed Covid-19 cases in the greater Los Angeles area have surpassed 1 million, though county scientists estimate actual infections are three times higher. Bloomberg