(Reuters) – Around 14 million U.S. residents received their first dose of a COVID-19 shot in August, about 4 million more than in July, White House officials said on Tuesday.
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EUROPE
* France aims to have administered a third shot of a COVID-19 vaccine to some 18 million people by early 2022, a health ministry official said.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Thai lawmakers began a censure debate against the prime minister, as opponents threatened to intensify street protests fuelled by frustration at his government’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis.
* Hong Kong’s government is facing growing pressure from business lobby groups to open borders or risk losing executives and investment as it shows no sign of easing one of the world’s strictest quarantine programmes.
* New Zealand’s government reported that new cases fell for a second day, after the country implemented a tight lockdown in response to the latest outbreak this month.
AMERICAS
* Brazilian researchers have found that a molecule in the venom of a type of snake inhibited coronavirus reproduction in monkey cells, a possible first step toward a drug to combat the virus causing COVID-19.
* The U.S. State Department has raised its travel advisory alert for Canada to a “level 3 – reconsider travel” status amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it said in a statement.
* Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf issued a mask mandate for all K-12 school and child care facilities to protect against the spread of COVID-19.
* Two of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s top vaccine regulators plan to leave the agency in the next several months, the agency said.
* The spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19 threatens the fragile recovery of U.S. restaurants, according to a report from the National Restaurant Association.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Nigeria is prioritising the AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, the official heading the country’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign said when asked whether the Sinopharm shot would be used in the country.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* South Korea’s SK Bioscience and Britain’s GSK said they had begun a late-stage trial of their vaccine candidate against AstraZeneca’s approved shot, the second study of its kind globally.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* A gauge of global equities headed for its seventh consecutive month of gains on Tuesday, but stocks and the dollar traded flat on the day as weak economic data suggested slower growth ahead and investors awaited a U.S. jobs report at week’s end. [MKTS/GLOB]
* The pandemic will cause the main U.S. Social Security trust fund reserves to be depleted in 2033, a year sooner than an estimate made a year ago, as a steep drop in employment shrank revenues, the U.S. Treasury said on Tuesday.
* U.S. consumer confidence fell to a six-month low in August as worries about soaring COVID-19 infections and higher inflation dimmed the outlook for the economy.
* India’s economy rebounded in the April-June quarter even while a devastating second wave of COVID-19 swept the country, with growth of over 20% compared to a year earlier driven by a surge in manufacturing and higher consumer spending.
(Compiled by Amy Caren Daniel; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
