AU pins hopes on vaccine supply from J&J, not India

Serum Institute will still supply the AstraZeneca shot to Africa through Covax facility

The African Union has dropped plans to buy Covid-19 vaccines from the Serum Institute of India and is exploring options with Johnson & Johnson, the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said yesterday.

The Indian institute will still supply the AstraZeneca vaccine to Africa through the Covax vaccine-sharing facility, Dr John Nkengasong said, but the AU would seek additional supplies from J&J.

Elsewhere, India, South Korea and Thailand faced mounting coronavirus infections yesterday, undermining cautious hopes that Asia might be emerging from the worst of the pandemic as worries about safety threatened to delay vaccination drives.

India reported a record 126,789 new cases, the third day this week tallies have surged to more than 100,000, surprising authorities who have blamed crowding and a reluctance to wear masks as shops and offices reopen.

More infectious variants of the virus may have played a role in India’s surge, some epidemiologists say, with hundreds of cases found of variants first detected in Britain, SA and Brazil.

The alarming numbers have led to New Zealand putting a temporary ban on anyone arriving from India, even for the first time blocking New Zealand citizens from coming home, for about two weeks.

New Zealand, which has virtually eliminated the virus within its borders, recorded 23 new cases at its border yesterday, 17 from India.

Two other countries that managed to largely keep the coronavirus under control during the first year of the pandemic were also grappling with new waves, though smaller than India’s.

South Korea reported 700 new cases yesterday, its highest daily figure since early January, and the prime minister warned that new social distancing rules may be needed.

Thailand, which has been planning a cautious reopening of its tourist industry, reported a rise in new daily infections to 405, taking its total number of infections to 30,310, with 95 deaths.

Adding to Thailand, it has detected 24 cases of a highly contagious virus variant first detected in Britain, its first reported domestic transmission of the variant.

Cases are also rising in parts of Europe but South America is the most worrying region of the world for infections, with cases mounting in nearly every country, the director of the Pan American Health Organisation said on Wednesday.

Asia’s increasing cases come as worries are growing over the safety of one of the most prominent vaccines.

The European Medicines Agency on Wednesday said it found rare cases of blood clots among some adult recipients of AstraZeneca s Covid-19 vaccine,

though’ it said the vaccine’s advantages still outweighed the risks.

Both South Korea and the Philippines have suspended use of the vaccine for people under 60 because of possible links to blood clots, while Australia and Taiwan said they would continue to use it.

Worry about the vaccine could delay immunisation drives in Asia, some of which are already dogged by supply problems. Campaigns in most parts of Asia lag those in places like Britain and the US.

China is driving ahead with its vaccination campaign, administering about 3.68-million doses on Wednesday, taking its total number of doses given to 149.07-million, authorities said.

Japan’s vaccinations are far behind those in most major economies, with only one vaccine approved and about onemillion people having received a first dose since February, even as it struggles with new cases.