European union
EU to get 50 million Pfizer doses early as US prolongs J&J pause
Concerns over using the J&J and AstraZeneca vaccines have dampen hopes that mass immunizations will lead to a swift exit from the global pandemic that has...
But, in a devilish twist worthy of the gentleman thief himself, the leap forward for European productions comes thanks to Netflix, a quintessentially American success story.
The suspensions have provoked intense debate over whether it was prudent to put AstraZeneca inoculations on hold just as vaccination campaigns were beginning to gather pace.
Both organisations will hold special meetings this week after a host of countries said they would stop using the vaccine pending further review.
The European Union's medicines regulator approved the single-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine, a boost for the EU's sluggish vaccination programme
Russia, which has pushed for a speedy approval, quickly said it was ready to provide jabs for 50 million Europeans as soon as the shot gets the green light from the Amsterdam-based European Medicines Agency.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the pass would allow people to gradually "move safely in the European Union or abroad - for work or tourism".
The move to target the Kremlin comes two weeks after EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell was caught in a diplomatic ambush in Moscow that enraged member states.
The EU said that a lack of political and economic reforms were allowing the humanitarian, economic and social situation to deteriorate in the country.
Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, Poland and Sweden were told to"fully transpose" into national law the EU rules that criminalise "serious manifestations of racism and xenophobia".
Member states will also be asked to contribute additional funds so the EU can adapt and modify contracts already signed with vaccine providers and secure doses against future variants, Bloomberg reported.
The single-shot vaccine would be the fourth jab to be approved for use across the 27-nation European Union if it gets the green light from the Amsterdam-based European Medicines Agency.
The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, launched an investigation back in 2017 after Aspen increased prices of some of its medicines by several hundred percent.
Russian-EU relations have suffered in recent weeks over the jailing of leading Kremlin opponent Alexi Navalny, after he returned to Russia from Germany where he was treated for poisoning with a Soviet-designed nerve agent.
The tariffs are yet another chapter in a 16-year spat over subsidies for aircraft manufacturers Airbus and Boeing that turned increasingly sour under US President Donald Trump.
Authorities in the 27-nation bloc have been hit with rising criticism that the vaccine rollout that started December 27 has been too slow, especially compared with countries such as the United States or former EU member Britain.
The European Commission has negotiated or is in the process of negotiating pre-purchase agreements with seven manufacturers of proven or potential COVID-19 vaccines.
The Moderna vaccine is now set to join Pfizer-BioNTech's jab for use in the 27-nation European Union, where governments have been criticised for slow rollouts of the doses already available.
Governments and users are belatedly coming to terms with the power held by the likes of Apple and Amazon, particularly in focus this year thanks to their role in everything from setting up video meetings to doing our shopping for us.