CORONAVIRUS

The pharmaceutical giant announced in February that it was testing a third dose of its vaccine to better combat the emerging variants.

Concerns over using the J&J and AstraZeneca vaccines have dampened hopes that mass immunizations will lead to a swift exit from the global pandemic.

They were also 73 percent more likely to require intensive care, and 2.5 times more likely to die due to the infection.

The coronavirus has already killed more than 2.9 million people and infected nearly 136 million across the world.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the easing of restrictions "a major step forward in our roadmap to freedom".

The ban came as India's wealthiest state Maharashtra, which has been the main driver of the infection spike, explored announcing a complete lockdown from as early as Monday.

The BioNTech/Pfizer shot is based on new mRNA technology and was the first Covid-19 vaccine to be approved in the West late last year.

Just over 25 million Peruvians are expected to turn out to vote just days after the country of 33 million people reported a daily record of 314 coronavirus deaths.

The scheme is aiming to distribute enough doses to vaccinate up to 27 percent of the population in the 92 poorest participating economies by the end of the year.

The ride-hailing giant offer no specifics on how it would allocate the funds for each driver.

Caracas is demanding access to funds blocked abroad due to sanctions against Maduro, to buy more doses from the global Covax vaccine-sharing mechanism.

The United Kingdom on Wednesday said it will adopt new medical advice to offer most people under 30 an alternative to AstraZeneca if possible.

The government has prioritized health workers, teachers, the elderly, indigenous people and people with underlying health conditions for the first vaccination round.

46 percent of patients who needed intensive care were diagnosed with neurological or psychiatric conditions within six months of recovery.

From Thursday, those living in England will be able to access two free rapid virus tests per week, a measure aimed at curbing symptom-free virus spread.

Police said that three officers were wounded, one of whom was taken to hospital, and four people were arrested.

South America has been hard hit by a new pandemic wave with Brazil at its epicenter.

The EU has blamed supply problems on its sluggish rollout, but several nations are also facing high rates of vaccine hesitancy, even in the face of rising infections.

The British monarch was visiting the CWGC Air Forces Memorial in Runnymede to mark the Centenary of the Royal Australian Air Force.

At least 230 patients with suspected or confirmed cases of Covid-19 died waiting for a bed in intensive care in Sao Paulo this month.

The company also said the batch "was never advanced to the filling and finishing stages of our manufacturing process."