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The first 325,260 doses will arrive Sunday night, Zweli Mkhize, South Africa’s health minister said in a statement. The government also expects Johnson & Johnson to release stock from the Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Ltd.’s plant in the nation by the middle of May following a verification process with regulators, according to the statement. Aspen is making the J&J vaccines under license.
South Africa, which is the worst-affected country by the coronavirus pandemic on the continent, lags behind emerging market peers in vaccinations. It halted J&J vaccines after health agencies last month called for their suspension in the U.S. The J&J shot is a key element to the nation’s vaccination plan and has already been used to inoculate health workers, with no reported adverse effects.
India Covid Cases Slow; Thai Death Toll at Record: Virus Update
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Hong Kong Test Record; U S to Start WTO Talks: Virus Update
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U.S. Seeks Expanded Access in Global Vaccine Talks: Virus Update Bloomberg 1 hr ago
(Bloomberg)
Talks starting this week between the U.S. and World Trade Organization over expanding access to vaccines will focus on how to get them “widely distributed, more widely licensed, more widely shared,” according to White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain. U.S. cases dropped to 45,236, the fewest on a Saturday since late September.
India’s deepening Covid-19 crisis cost Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a key election, as the ruling BJP party conceded West Bengal’s state poll. Modi had been widely criticized for continuing to hold mass rallies in the state in as infections rose.