India said it will administer homegrown coronavirus vaccine COVAXIN in seven more states from today as it seeks to inoculate 30 million healthcare workers across the country.
The government this month gave emergency-use approval to the vaccine, developed by Bharat Biotech International Ltd and state-run Indian Council of Medical Research, and another licensed from Oxford University and AstraZeneca PLC that is being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.
The expansion from the 12 states now administering COVAXIN includes the southern state of Kerala, which has a high Covid-19 caseload, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state of Gujarat, the government said late on Saturday.
Some doctors have expressed doubt about COVAXIN, which was approved without efficacy data from late-stage clinical trials. The government says it is safe. The Lancet medical journal said on Thursday the drug produced an immune response in a small group of adults.
Egypt begins immunisation campaign
Egypt began its Covid-19 immunisation program yesterday, becoming one of the first countries in Africa to vaccinate its citizens, with a doctor and a nurse receiving the Chinese-made Sinopharm jab.
Egypt, the Arab world's most populous country with over 100 million people, received its first batch of the vaccine in December.
France imposes border controls
New border controls went into force in France yesterday as part of a massive effort to contain the spread of Covid-19 and avoid another nationwide lockdown.
After a slow start to vaccinations, French health authorities reported that a million people had received coronavirus inoculations by Saturday.
Oman bars expats from certain jobs
Oman announced yesterday it will bar expatriates from certain jobs in an effort to create more employment opportunities for its citizens amid an economic downturn.
In a region that depends heavily on cheap foreign labour, expats in the sultanate make up about 40% of the country's 4.5 million-strong population.
Sweden bans travellers from Norway
Sweden said yesterday it would temporarily stop all foreigners coming in from Norway from midnight, in a bid to halt the spread of the new coronavirus variant first spotted in Britain.
Interior minister Mikael Damberg told a news conference the entry ban, with exemptions for commuters and some other groups, would last until February 14.
The decision came a day after Norway imposed some of its toughest lockdown measures yet in several municipalities after an outbreak of the new coronavirus variant.
