(Reuters) – The World Health Organization says it is sending COVID-19 aid for North Korea through a China border port, while the U.S. government is committing to buy an additional 180 million rapid tests for $1 billion.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
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EUROPE
* Sweden and Denmark are pausing the use of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for younger age groups after reports of possible rare cardiovascular side effects.
* The European Union’s public health agency is proposing a revision of COVID-19 rules which could ease travel for vaccinated people.
* Britain dropped its advice against all but essential travel for 32 countries and territories on Wednesday.
AMERICAS
* More than 840,000 children under the age of four have contracted COVID-19 in the United States since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
* The Brazilian agency that regulates health insurance plans has opened an investigation into allegations that a hospital chain tested unproven drugs on elderly COVID-19 patients without their knowledge.
* Canada will place unvaccinated federal employees on unpaid leave and require COVID-19 shots for air, train and ship passengers.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Malaysia has struck a deal with U.S. drugmaker Merck & Co to buy 150,000 courses of its experimental antiviral pill, the health ministry said.
* Restrictions will be eased further in Sydney from Monday, as Australia’s largest city looks set to exit a nearly four-month lockdown after hitting its 70% full vaccination target.
* Air New Zealand is operating less than one-third of its usual domestic capacity due to tough restrictions in Auckland and doubts whether a travel bubble with Australia will reopen.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Sudan has received more than 500,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine produced by Pfizer, the first batch of a U.S. donation of 1.27 million doses through the COVAX facility.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Moderna plans to invest about $500 million to build a factory in Africa to make up to 500 million doses of mRNA vaccines each year.
* French healthcare company Sanofi said it had found positive results from the first study into a high-dose influenza vaccine with an mRNA booster.
* A booster shot improves the immune response of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, while post-COVID depression can be treated with widely used drugs, new studies show.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Asian shares rallied on Thursday, supported by a possible easing in U.S.-China tensions, and weaker energy prices, as oil edged down from multi-year highs. [MKTS/GLOB]
* German industrial output dropped by far more than expected in August due to supply chain disruptions that are holding back growth in Europe’s biggest economy and hitting the auto sector particularly hard.
* The Bank of Japan cut its economic assessment for five of the country’s nine regions as supply constraints disrupted factory output of cars and other products, clouding the outlook for the export-reliant economy.
(Compiled by Ramakrishnan M., Shailesh Kuber and Anita Kobylinska; Edited by Bill Berkrot, Shounak Dasgupta and Sriraj Kalluvila)
