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EU Braces for Astra Verdict; U.K. Re-Testing Shots: Virus Update
(Bloomberg) — The European Union is bracing for a decision by its health regulator on whether AstraZeneca’s shot is safe to use, while the U.K.’s health regulator ruled that the benefits of using the vaccine continues to outweigh the risks.A delayed shipment of Astra’s vaccine from India and a batch requiring re-testing are behind a cut in the U.K.’s supply starting this month, the first major interruption in Britain’s vaccine rollout.India topped 35,000 for the first time since early January while Tokyo’s state of emergency will end on Sunday. The global middle class shrank for the first time in decades last year because of the pandemic.Key Developments:Global Tracker: Cases pass 121 million; deaths top 2.68 millionEurope braces for Astra vaccine decision after suspension fiascoU.S. to reach 100 million vaccinations goal five weeks earlyElderly face higher risk of reinfection after Covid, study showsSupply of Covid swabs depends on two Cousins who hate each otherVaccine populism is a game Europe can’t afford: Lionel LaurentSubscribe to a daily update on the virus from Bloomberg’s Prognosis team here. Click CVID on the terminal for global data on cases and deaths.Johnson, Von Der Leyen Talk Over Tensions (10:22 a.m. NY)U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen had a phone call on Wednesday evening after European Union efforts to secure vaccine supplies ramped up tensions between the two sides, according to two people familiar with the matter.The call was held at around 7 p.m., one of the people said. It took place just hours after von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, had floated plans to restrict vaccine exports from the EU to Britain. Spokesmen for both the commission and the U.K. government declined to comment.U.K. Says Astra Shot’s Benefits Outweigh Risks (10:05 a.m. NY)Benefits of AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine continue to outweigh the risks, according to the U.K.’s drugs regulator, which issued renewed guidance as the European Union reviews the shot following reports of blood clots possibly linked to it.The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency issued its recommendation after five cases — all of them in men aged 19-59 — developed an unusual combination of sinus vein thrombosis and low platelets.Pandemic Shrank Global Middle Class (10:00 a.m. NY)The global middle class shrank for the first time in decades last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic, with almost two-thirds of households in developing economies reporting they suffered a loss in income, according to two new estimates based on World Bank data.In a study published Thursday, researchers at the non-partisan Pew Research Center found that the ranks of the global middle class — those earning $10-$50 per day — fell by 90 million people to almost 2.5 billion last year. That helped swell the ranks of the poor, or those living on less than $2 a day, by 131 million, Pew estimated.U.K. Doses Delayed Over Re-Testing, Shipments (8:46 a.m. NY)A delayed shipment of AstraZeneca Plc’s vaccine from India and a batch requiring re-testing are behind a cut in the U.K.’s available supplies, the first major interruption in Britain’s vaccine rollout.Vaccine doses made by one of Astra’s manufacturing partners, the Serum Institute of India Ltd., have been stalled, and another 1.7 million doses have been kept back in the last week for further checks on their stability, U.K. Health Secretary Matt Hancock told Parliament in a statement Thursday.Norway Probe Makes Clots Finding (8:30 a.m. NY)An investigation at Rikshospitalet in Oslo has found that a immune response caused the blood clots in three health workers after they received the AstraZeneca vaccine, Pal Andre Holme, the hematologist leading the probe, said on Thursday.“The findings support our hypothesis that we launched quite early that these patients have had a powerful immune response which resulted in, among other things, the formation of antibodies, which can ignite the platelets and thus give a thrombus,” Holme told reporters.The investigation hasn’t yet been able to conclude why only some people have this response. Norway regulator has been informed of the hospital’s findings.CFOs Sees Big Travel Savings Post-Pandemic (8:00 a.m. NY)Chief financial officers at U.S. companies expect to make big savings on business travel compared with pre-pandemic levels, even as they see a recovering economy, according to Deloitte’s latest quarterly survey of finance chiefs.The CFOs cited the need for cost containment, amid ongoing concerns about the spread of Covid-19, as one of the key risks ahead — as well as the uncertain timetable for the economy’s reopening.One area where they plan to find savings is corporate travel. About six out of seven of the CFOs said their company’s travel costs would likely be 80% of pre-pandemic levels or less, and one-third said they expected to spend below 60% of past budgets.Europe Is Divided on Export Ban (7:55 a.m. NY)European Union governments are divided over a controversial proposal to withhold vaccine exports to the U.K., even as the bloc sits on about 20 million unused doses.The U.K. is the largest recipient of doses made in the EU, receiving 10 million of the 42 million exported shots. Any decision on the issue would ultimately be for EU leaders, who are set to meet next week.The EU is struggling to overcome a slow start to its inoculation campaign, with only 9.8% of adults receiving the first vaccine shot, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control said Thursday. The U.K. is close to hitting the 50% mark, according to data released earlier this week.Vaccines Seen Protecting Against Brazil Strain (7:42 a.m. NY)AstraZeneca Plc’s and Pfizer Inc.’s Covid-19 vaccines may help protect patients from the coronavirus variant that emerged in Brazil, scientists said in a study that may alleviate some concerns about their role in slowing the pandemic.Laboratory experiments indicate that the shots are about as effective against the Brazil variant as another that surfaced in the U.K., which has already been shown to be halted by existing vaccines, according to data released Thursday by the University of Oxford. Both inoculations fared a lot less well against another mutant that surfaced in South Africa.The U.K. and Brazil variants rendered the vaccines about three times less effective than against earlier strains, the scientists found. Against the South Africa variant, the researchers found a nine-fold reduction in the level of neutralization by the Astra vaccine and a 7.6-fold reduction for the Pfizer shot.Hong Kong Rattles Bankers With Quarantine (7:33 a.m. NY)Hong Kong’s strict coronavirus containment measures are causing growing anxiety within the city’s financial sector, after an outbreak forced several firms to shut offices and left some employees and their children stuck in spartan government quarantine facilities.An executive at one international investment bank in the city said the firm would have to consider shifting some of its traders to other financial hubs if Hong Kong’s current quarantine policies stay in effect for the long-term. Managers at another global financial firm are concerned they’ll struggle to retain and attract overseas talent if Hong Kong’s rules persist while other cities begin to relax restrictions as vaccine rollouts accelerate.Italy Says Astra Verdict Won’t Change Plans (7:07 a.m. NY)Prime Minister Mario Draghi pledged to accelerate Italy’s vaccination campaign independently of the outcome of a European review of AstraZeneca’s vaccine.The premier, visiting the northern region of Lombardy, the original epicenter of the pandemic in Europe, said that the decision to suspend use of the vaccine taken by several countries was “temporary and precautionary.”Referring to an assessment due by the European Medicines Agency on the Astra vaccine due later Thursday, Draghi vowed that, “whatever its decision, the vaccination campaign will continue with the same intensity, the same objectives.”WHO Warns Over Europe’s Spike (6:45 a.m. NY)Europe is experiencing a third straight week of rising coronavirus cases and needs a bigger range of vaccines to combat the pandemic, said Hans Kluge, regional director of the World Health Organization.“We need to increase the portfolio of vaccines, which is why the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is eagerly awaited,” Kluge said Thursday during an online briefing. Asked about an approval date for the Russian-developed Sputnik shot, he said the WHO is conducting a “rolling review” of that vaccine.The WHO won’t yet endorse the issuance of Covid passports. “We do not encourage at this stage that getting a vaccination is determining if you can travel or not. As with the global shortage of vaccines, it encourages inequities,” said Kluge.H&M Reverses Reopening of Stores (6:09 a.m. NY)H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB has shut stores due to new restrictions in countries such as Italy and Poland, with around 1,050 shops temporarily closed as of March 17, or about 21% of all its outlets. The retailer had been reopening stores gradually and had 900 outlets closed as of March 13, after having 1,800 shops not trading at the end of January.Japan to End Tokyo Emergency (5:54 p.m. HK)Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said the state of emergency in the Tokyo region will end on Sunday after targets for relieving strain on the health care system were reached, even as coronavirus cases in the capital rose slightly. While Tokyo recorded 409 new cases on Wednesday, the highest figure since Feb. 18, an expert panel approved the lifting of the restrictions.Hungary to Extend Lockdown (5:44 p.m. HK)Hungary can’t ease its lockdown because of “extraordinarily bad” virus data, Cabinet Minister Gergely Gulyassaid Thursday.The current two-week lockdown, which forced most stores to close, expires on Monday. Hungary reported a record 207 daily deaths from Covid-19 on Thursday as the country struggles to rein in a worsening pandemic despite the second-highest vaccination rate in the European Union.ECB Urges Prompt Rollout of Fiscal Plan (4:27 p.m. HK)European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said governments must make sure to roll out their historic joint spending plan on time to ensure the region’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.The European Union’s 750 billion-euro ($896 billion) recovery fund “should become operational without delay,” Lagarde told lawmakers in the European Parliament. “By brightening economic prospects for firms and households, fiscal policy would also strengthen the transmission of our monetary policy measures.”Bali May Reopen to Foreign Tourists in June (2:39 p.m. HK)Foreign tourists may be able to visit the Indonesian island of Bali again as soon as June under a travel corridor program to help revive the economy, Tourism Minister Sandiaga Uno said. The arrangement will be offered to countries that are deemed successful in their vaccination programs, are able to contain the spread of the coronavirus and could offer reciprocal benefits, Uno said in a statement.German Armed Forces Ready for Vaccine Help (2:15 p.m. HK)Germany wants the armed forces to operate 24-hour vaccination centers to help speed the roll-out of Covid-19 shots, Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told WirtschaftsWoche, adding that the armed forces has the capacity to run 28 such centers. “If enough vaccine is available in the federal states, we can administer up to 20,000 doses per day throughout Germany,” she said.India’s New Cases Rise Back Above 35,000 (11:48 a.m. HK)India’s Health Ministry reported 35,871 new cases as the nation’s infection count continues to rise. The total was the highest since the first week of January. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday urged an increase in testing and tracing to curb the rise in infections.AstraZeneca’s Korean Partner Doubles in Debut (8:06 a.m. HK)Concern over the side effects of AstraZeneca’s shot failed to dent the trading debut of its Korean partner SK Bioscience Co., which more than doubled its market value to 12.9 trillion won ($11.5 billion). Shares of the vaccine-making unit of conglomerate SK Group rose by their 160% daily limit in South Korea’s largest domestic listing since 2017.Korean health authorities said on Wednesday it has no reports of blood-clotting in the country after the shot. South Korea plans to inoculate 12 million people by July, with early batches mostly from SK Bioscience, which also signed a licensing agreement with Novavax Inc. last month. President Moon Jae-in is set to receive the U.K.-developed vaccine next week.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.
