(Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden signed an order imposing new vaccine requirements for most foreign national air travellers, while lifting travel curbs on countries like China and India from Nov. 8.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
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EUROPE
* The European Union’s drug regulator said it has concluded in its review that Moderna’s COVID-19 booster vaccine may be given to people aged 18 years and above, at least six months after the second dose.
** Bulgaria reported record numbers of daily coronavirus deaths and infections on Tuesday as a fourth wave of the disease is stretching the health system in the European Union’s least vaccinated member state.
* Spain reached the grim milestone of 5 million COVID-19 cases during the pandemic.
* The Dutch government may impose new coronavirus restrictions to reduce pressure on hospitals struggling to deal with a swelling number of COVID-19 patients.
AMERICAS
* New York City’s police union filed a lawsuit against a vaccine mandate for municipal workers ordered last week by Mayor Bill de Blasio.
* Venezuela reopened public schools and universities which serve more than 11 million students, though some schools remained closed for repairs or because of lack of staff.
* Facebook and YouTube have removed from their platforms a video by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in which the far-right leader made a false claim that COVID-19 vaccines were linked with developing AIDS.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* South Korea granted emergency use approval for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine produced by South Korean drugmaker Samsung BioLogics.
* Indonesia is “finalising” a deal with Merck & Co to procure its experimental antiviral pills to treat COVID-19 ailments.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* The African Union (AU) intends to buy up to 110 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna in an arrangement brokered in part by the White House, which will defer delivery of some doses intended for the United States to facilitate the deal, officials told Reuters.
* Namibia will suspend its rollout of Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine, days after the drugs regulator in neighbouring South Africa flagged concerns about its safety for people at risk of HIV.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* Scientists at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the likely benefits of giving the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to 5 to 11 year olds clearly outweigh the risks of rare cases of heart inflammation.
* COVID-19 patients who require surgery appear to face fewer complications if they have previously been vaccinated against the flu, new data suggest.
* U.S. drugmaker Merck & Co Inc said the European Union’s drug regulator has initiated a real-time review of its experimental COVID-19 antiviral drug for adults.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Asian stocks inched higher on Tuesday, as upbeat Wall Street earnings lifted the broader economic outlook though fresh worries about China’s property sector hit Hong Kong and mainland markets. [MKTS/GLOB]
* Taiwan’s trade-reliant economy is expected to have expanded at a slower pace in the third quarter due to the island’s COVID-19 outbreak, a Reuters poll showed.
(Compiled by Aditya Soni and Uttaresh. V; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Anil D’Silva)
