(Reuters) – Austria entered its fourth national lockdown, the Czech Republic and Slovakia banned unvaccinated people from pubs and services, and Germany’s acting Chancellor Angela Merkel called for tougher measures in Europe’s biggest economy as the continent again became the epicentre of the pandemic.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS
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EUROPE
* Germany will promote Moderna for Germans seeking booster shots as high demand for the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine risks depleting stocks and derailing efforts to tame a fourth wave of the pandemic, the health minister said.
* Britain will review its travel rules in January and is looking at reforming its airport slots system as part of a wider new aviation strategy, minister Robert Courts said.
* Dutch prime minister lashed out at “idiot” rioters who rampaged through cities across the Netherlands this weekend when protests against coronavirus policies turned violent.
AMERICAS
* The White House confirmed that more than 90% of 3.5 million federal employees covered by a presidential vaccine mandate have received at least one vaccine dose ahead of a Monday deadline.
* Fifteen human rights groups have urged U.S. President Joe Biden to get personally engaged in a long-running fight to enact an intellectual property waiver for COVID-19 vaccines at the World Trade Organization, calling his leadership “a moral necessity.”
ASIA-PACIFIC
* India is not considering authorising booster shots yet as many in the country have been naturally infected and the government believes two doses of a vaccine offers sufficient protection for now, three sources with knowledge of the matter said.
* New Zealand will adopt a new system of living with the virus from Dec. 3, which will end tough restrictions and allow businesses to operate in its biggest city, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.
* For the first time since South Korea began battling its outbreak in early 2020, all schools across the country resumed full-time in-person classes on Monday.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* A group of Kenyan and foreign companies welcomed a government edict that residents from Dec. 21 must show proof of vaccination to access services, saying this would boost very low vaccine take-up in the country.
* Israel, which is totally dependent on imported vaccines, called for proposals for a locally-based vaccine production facility to provide itself with independent capability to take counter-measures to any new pathogens.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* The EU drug regulator said it was evaluating data on booster doses of the vaccine by Johnson & Johnson following an application, and a decision could come “within weeks” under a speedy review.
* Pfizer said its vaccine provided strong long-term protection against the virus in a late-stage study conducted among adolescents aged 12 to 15 years.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* European stocks gave up their early gains and turned lower as traders weighed the likely impact of fresh European COVID-19 restrictions on economic prospects, while world stocks were set to extend a two-week losing streak. [MKTS/GLOB]
* Oil prices fell as rising cases in Europe and a potential release of Japanese oil reserves raised concerns about both oversupply and weak demand.
(Compiled by Milla Nissi; editing by Barbara Lewis)
