![A doctor collects a swab sample for coronavirus outside a clinic in Shah Alam in Malaysia [Lim Huey Teng/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2020-12-10T092238Z_1924553427_RC29KK9VVBHT_RTRMADP_3_HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS-MALAYSIA.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin says government also in final stages of vaccine negotiations with Russia and China.
Live updates
Pfizer, Moderna testing vaccine against COVID variant: Live news
The discovery of the new strain sowed new panic in a pandemic that has killed almost 1.7 million people worldwide.
![Michelle Chester, DNP, director, employee health services, Northwell shows the Moderna coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine at Northwell Health's Long Island Jewish Valley Stream hospital in New York [Eduardo Munoz/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/2020-12-21T223844Z_1647285188_RC2YRK9KGX4C_RTRMADP_3_HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS-VACCINES.jpg?resize=770%2C513)
22 Dec 2020
Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc are testing their COVID-19 vaccines against the new fast-spreading version of the virus that has emerged in Britain.
Moderna expects immunity from its vaccine to protect against the variants and is performing more tests in the coming weeks to confirm, the company said.
Countries across the globe have shut borders and banned travel between the UK over fears about a highly infectious new coronavirus strain, causing travel chaos and raising the prospect of food shortages.
The strain, referred to by some experts as the B.1.1.7 lineage, is not the first new variant of the pandemic virus to emerge, but is said to be up to 70 percent more transmissible than the previously dominant strain in the UK.
On Tuesday, the US Senate passed an $892bn coronavirus aid package, while also funding federal government activities through September 2021.
There have been 77.3 million cases of the coronavirus worldwide, with more than 1.7 million deaths.
Here are the latest updates:
Thai PM blames virus surge on illegal migration
Thailand’s prime minister has attributed a recent surge in coronavirus cases to illegal migration and said additional regulations to fight the epidemic could be announced this week.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said he would meet his COVID-19 task force this week and may introduce “appropriate” measures ahead of New Year celebrations, without elaborating.
Prayuth said the more than 1,000 cases detected mostly among workers from Myanmar since the weekend in Samut Sakhon province – the country’s biggest coronavirus outbreak so far – were primarily due to networks responsible for illegal migration.
BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine heads to EU as effectiveness against new strain tested
BioNTech is testing the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine it developed with Pfizer against a highly infectious new strain virus as it prepares to send 12.5 mln doses to EU countries by the end of year.
“There is no reason to be concerned or worried until we get the data,” he said.
The 27 EU member states that want shots produced in BioNTech’s manufacturing sites in Germany, and Pfizer’s site in Puurs, Belgium, will receive them on Saturday so vaccinations can start on Sunday, chief financial officer Sierk Poetting said.
New coronavirus strain still not found in India
The new more transmissible strain of the coronavirus detected in Britain has not yet been found in India, a senior government official said, as health authorities prepared to screen all passengers arriving from the UK since November 25.
People wearing protective masks exit a railway station amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Mumbai [Francis Mascarenhas/Reuters]V.K. Paul, a top COVID-19 adviser to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said the new virus strain would have no impact on vaccines being developed in India.
India has suspended all flights from Britain starting Wednesday until the end of the year.
China suspends operations of its visa application service in London
China is suspending operations of its Visa Application Service Centre in London from December 22, the Chinese embassy in Britain said.
Hungary bans air passenger planes from UK from landing
Hungary’s government banned air passenger planes from Britain from landing in Hungary until February 8 to limit the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
The decree, signed by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, extends to regular and charter flights but does not include emergency landings, which are permitted.
Second wave of pandemic appears to have peaked in Hungary
The second wave of the coronavirus pandemic appears to have peaked in Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, said.
Gulyas said the government would keep existing restrictions in place until at least January 11
New coronavirus variant probably exists in Germany
It is highly likely that the mutation of the coronavirus that has been found in Britain also exists in Germany, the head of the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) health institute said, adding, however, that it had not shown up in data yet.
South Africa facing isolation amid fears over new COVID strain
South Africa is facing increasing isolation as more countries ban travel over the discovery of a new variant of the virus.
The country’s scientists are studying if the vaccines against COVID-19 will also offer protection against the new strain.
Read more here
France expects national COVID-19 vaccine approval
French Health Minister Olivier Veran said that the French medical regulatory body was expected to give approval to COVID-19 vaccines by December 26 after the European Medicines Agency approved the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
France is planning to start its vaccination programme on Sunday.
WHO calls meeting on new virus variant
The World Health Organization (WHO) will convene a meeting of members to discuss strategies to counter the new coronavirus strain.
The Geneva-based body has cautioned against major alarm over the variant, saying it was a normal part of a pandemic’s evolution and praising Britain for detecting it.
In a statement on Tuesday, the WHO repeated that there was not yet enough information to determine whether the new variant could affect vaccine efficacy, saying researching was ongoing.
Britain has plenty of food, no need to worry
Food in Britain is plentiful and shoppers should not be concerned about supermarkets running out of supplies, interior minister Priti Patel said.
On Monday, Britain’s two biggest supermarket groups Tesco and Sainsbury’s, warned that gaps will start to appear on British supermarket shelves within days if transport ties with mainland Europe were not quickly restored.
But Patel played down those concerns.
Russia reports 28,776 new coronavirus cases, 561 deaths
Russia reported 28,776 new coronavirus cases, including 7,237 in Moscow, pushing the national tally to 2,906,503 since the pandemic began.
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Authorities also confirmed 561 deaths, taking the official death toll to 51,912.
Uzbekistan shuts borders over new COVID-19 strain
Uzbekistan has closed its borders to residents of eight countries, including Britain, and to people who have recently visited them amid concerns about a new coronavirus strain.
The entry ban will be in effect until January 10 and will affect Italy, Germany, Denmark, Austria, the Netherlands, Australia, and South Africa, the Central Asian nation’s government said in a statement.
UK and France working to lift border closure, British minister says
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government is working with France in an attempt to find a way to lift border closures that have snarled one of Europe’s most important trade routes just days before the Brexit cliff edge.
“We speak to our colleagues in France constantly on a range of issues and that work has been underway over the last 24 hours and we’ll continue today,” Home Secretary Priti Patel told Sky.
Guatemala to restrict entry to travellers from UK, South Africa
The new measures will require people who have visited Britain or South Africa within 14 days to quarantine for at least a week upon arrival in Guatemala.
Health minister Amelia Flores said the restrictions would initially last two months. Guatemala will restrict entry beginning on Wednesday.
Taiwan reports first locally transmitted case since April 12
The individual who tested positive for COVID-19 was a friend of a person who had already been confirmed to have been infected with the virus, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung told a news conference.
US Congress approves $892bn relief package
The US Congress on Monday approved an $892bn coronavirus aid package, throwing a lifeline to the nation’s pandemic-battered economy after months of inaction, while also keeping the federal government funded.
President Donald Trump is expected to sign the package into law.
The virus relief bill includes $600 payments to most Americans as well as additional payments to the millions of people thrown out of work during the COVID-19 pandemic, just as a larger round of benefits is due to expire on Saturday.
Read more here
Source : Al Jazeera and News agencies
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