(Reuters) – Here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus right now:
Homegrown AstraZeneca vaccine rolled out in Britain
Britain will become the first country to roll out the low-cost and easily transportable AstraZeneca and Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine on Monday. Six hospitals in England will administer the first of about 530,000 doses Britain has ready. The programme will be expanded to hundreds of other British sites in coming days and the government hopes it will deliver tens of millions of doses within months.
The Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is cheaper and can be stored at fridge temperature, which makes it easier to transport and use. India approved the vaccine on Sunday for emergency use.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that tougher coronavirus restrictions were likely to be introduced, even with millions of citizens already living under the strictest tier of rules.
Tokyo considers state of emergency
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Monday the government would consider declaring a state of emergency for the Greater Tokyo area as coronavirus cases climb and strain the medical system. The declaration would mark a reversal, as Suga has resisted any drastic steps that would restrict economic activity.
Suga did not say when the government would make a decision, or what restrictions would follow. He did repeat that many of the new cases with unknown origin were likely linked to restaurants and that the government’s latest request for restaurants in the Tokyo area to close at 8 p.m. – rather than 10 p.m. – should be effective.
Japan saw a record 4,520 new cases on Dec. 31, prompting the capital and three neighbouring prefectures to seek an emergency declaration from the government. The region accounts for about half of new nationwide cases.
U.S. may cut some Moderna vaccine doses in half to speed rollout, official says
The U.S. government is considering giving some people half the dose of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine in order to speed vaccinations, a federal official said on Sunday.
“We know that for the Moderna vaccine, giving half of the dose to people between the ages of 18 and 55, two doses, half the dose, which means exactly achieving the objective of immunizing double the number of people with the doses we have,” Moncef Slaoui, head of Operation Warp Speed, the federal vaccine program, said on CBS’ “Face the Nation”.
“We know it induces identical immune response” to the full dose, he said. Moderna and the FDA could not immediately be reached for comment.
South Korea expands restrictions, spends more on cosmetic surgery
South Korea has expanded a ban on private gatherings larger than four people to the whole country and extended unprecedented social distancing rules in greater Seoul as the number of daily cases bounced back to more than 1,000. The extended social-distancing rules imposed on Seoul and neighbouring areas include curbs on churches, restaurants, cafes and ski resorts.
South Koreans are getting more cosmetic surgery with one doctor speculating that for some people, it was an emotional response to the pandemic.
The industry was estimated to be worth about $10.7 billion in 2020, up 9.2% year-on-year, and expected to rise to about $11.8 billion this year, according to Gangnam Unni, the country’s largest online cosmetic surgery platform.
Surgeon Shin Sang-ho, who operates Krismas Plastic Surgery Clinic, said many people had spent their emergency stimulus payment from the government at hospitals and clinics, boosting revenue in the third and fourth quarters of 2020. “I’ve sensed that customers were expressing their pent-up emotions by getting cosmetic procedures,” Shin said.
(Compiled by Karishma Singh; Editing by Robert Birsel)
