(Reuters) – Sydney’s cafes, gyms and restaurants welcomed back fully vaccinated customers on Monday after nearly four months of lockdown, as Australia aims to begin living with the coronavirus and gradually reopen with high rates of inoculation.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
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EUROPE
* Italy reached the target of fully vaccinating 80% of the population over the age of 12 against COVID-19, according to official data, achieving a goal Rome had set as a safety cut-off point, government data showed on Sunday.
AMERICAS
* Canada’s health and long-term care industries are bracing for staff shortages and layoffs, as deadlines for vaccine mandates loom across the country, with unions pushing federal and provincial governments to soften hard-line stances.
* Venezuela on Sunday received a second batch of 2.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines via the COVAX mechanism, while the government said it hoped to reach immunity for 70% of Venezuelans by the end of the month.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* Malaysia has lifted interstate and international travel restrictions for residents fully vaccinated against COVID-19, as the country achieved its target of inoculating 90% of its adult population.
* New Zealand will require teachers and workers in the health and disability sectors to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, as she extended restrictions in Auckland, its largest city, for another week.
* Singapore is opening its borders to more countries for quarantine-free travel as the city-state seeks to rebuild its status as an international aviation hub, and prepares to reach a “new normal” to live with COVID-19.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* Egypt’s public prosecution ordered the arrest of three people after thousands of unused COVID-19 vaccines were found dumped along a water channel.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* AstraZeneca said on Monday its antibody cocktail, the first protective shot other than vaccines against COVID-19, met its main goals in a late-stage trial, helping reduce severe COVID-19 or death in non-hospitalised patients.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* Asian shares edged higher on Monday courtesy of gains in China which also helped U.S. stock futures pare early losses, while rising Treasury yields lifted the dollar to a near three-year peak against the Japanese yen. [MKTS/GLOB]
* Goldman Sachs cut its U.S. economic growth target to 5.6% for 2021 and to 4% for 2022 citing an expected decline in fiscal support through the end of next year and a more delayed recovery in consumer spending than previously expected.
* The U.S. job market will continue to feel the effects of COVID-19, but it is too soon to say it is “stalling,” San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly said on Sunday.
(Compiled by Amy Caren Daniel; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
