TOP HEADLINES
• Germany has said it will not recommend the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for the over-65s, with the Robert Koch Institute citing "insufficient data currently available to ascertain how effective the vaccination is above 65 years."
• The EU has warned drug companies it would use all legal means or even block exports unless firms agree to deliver shots as promised. Vaccination centers across the bloc have delayed appointments due to a supply shortfall.
• The European Commission has asked Belgian authorities to inspect production at a plant making the AstraZeneca vaccine, where problems have led to a large shortfall in supply.
• The European Medicines Agency is now recommending that a second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine be given "at least 21 days" after the first, as many countries consider ways to stretch scarce supplies of shots.
• Portugal has extended its nationwide lockdown until mid-February after suffering the world's highest per capita seven-day averages of both new cases and deaths.
• German military medical experts sent to Portugal will be "trying to clarify what kind of support is needed and feasible," a defense ministry spokesman said, while health secretary Antonio Lacerda Sales said the government wants more help from European partners.
• Moderna has warned Switzerland that its vaccine deliveries will be delayed, the Swiss health ministry said, leading to February shortfalls that the country expects the U.S. company to make up in March.
• Germany's health minister expects the vaccine shortage to last into April. "We will still have at least 10 tough weeks with a shortage of vaccine," said Jens Spahn, who wants a summit meeting of Germany's federal and regional leaders.
• Czechia's health ministry called for a two-week halt to new vaccinations amid a supply shortage – only to be countermanded by Prime Minister Andrej Babis and the health minister.
• Swiss drugmaker Novartis says it is talking to other companies about helping to make vaccines and tests for COVID-19. "We are currently in discussions with several companies," said a statement.
• One in 10 French COVID-19 cases is the more contagious new B.1.1.7 variant first discovered in the UK, government spokesman Gabriel Attal said, as France reported its biggest one-day rise in cases since mid-November.
• Germany is preparing entry restrictions for travelers from Britain, Brazil and South Africa, the interior ministry said on Thursday, as concerns of more contagious coronavirus variants are rising.
• Hungary is extending its partial lockdown, in force since early November, until March 1. "The measures taken in November have helped slow down and keep the pandemic under control," said Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff.
• Denmark's restrictions will be extended by three weeks to February 28, the prime minister announced.
• Norway will close its borders to all but essential visitors, said Prime Minister Erna Solberg: "In practice, the border will be closed to anyone not living in Norway."
• Amsterdam's zoo Artis, one of the oldest animal parks in Europe, is to stop keeping lions because it can't afford them due to the financial fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
Medical personnel work inside a COVID-19 intensive care unit at a military hospital in Lisbon, Portugal. /Armando Franca/AP
ACROSS EUROPE
Nawied Jabarkhyl in London
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will visit Scotland on Thursday in a trip to thank front-line health workers and signal the government's support for a united approach to fighting COVID-19. But the trip has been criticized, with Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon questioning whether it was "essential" – non-essential travel is currently banned under UK coronavirus laws.
Meanwhile, scientists from London's Imperial College say the virus reproduction rate in England showed a very slow decline between January 6 and 22. Of the 168,000 people swabbed, 1.57 percent tested positive.
British drugmaker AstraZeneca claims it will work with the EU to solve a row over vaccine supplies. That could mean future stocks are diverted from the UK to meet targets across the bloc's 27 countries.
Ross Cullen in Paris
French ministers are considering a "very tight lockdown," said government spokesperson Gabriel Attal, with "rapid and effective impacts to further slow down the circulation of the virus." The health secretary will hold a 1 p.m. GMT news conference, but is not expected to announce a new confinement.
If a new lockdown is announced, it will likely be this weekend, because the government says it wants to give the current curfew at least two weeks to see if it has an impact on suppressing the number of infections. The 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. nightly shutdown was extended nationwide on Saturday January 16.
Ministers are said to be considering three lockdown options: keeping the current curfew during the week with a weekend lockdown; replacing the curfew with a full lockdown but leaving schools open; or imposing a full lockdown with schools closed, as in March 2020.
READ MORE
WHY IS THE UK DEATH TOLL SO HIGH?
Stefan de Vries in Amsterdam
Researchers from Erasmus University and Innatoss Laboratories are developing a new, highly sensitive COVID-19 test. They want to detect viral exposure based on individual cells – existing tests detect antibodies in the blood. The new research should determine if a different test can detect an infection in the T-cells, the white blood cells.
The Dutch government will present a lockdown exit strategy, prioritizing opening schools and abolishing the 9 p.m. curfew. Further relaxations, like reopening shops, museums and restaurants, will be introduced in four steps, depending on the number of infections. The last step would be the ending of the 1.5-meter social distance rule.
Toni Waterman in Brussels
Belgium
Belgium's coronavirus commission has issued an "alarming" report on the virus's spread, saying the highly transmissible B.1.1.7 variant first detected in the UK will be the dominant strain by March. The report's main author, virologist Emmanuel Andre, said by the end of February up to 95 percent of all new infections will be traced to the B.1.1.7 variant.
Andre said current restrictions won't control infections and that even further measures could just delay an inevitable third wave. "We cannot stop the third wave for months, but we can delay the peak, bring it down and limit the number of hospital admissions," he said.
The report also said positive cases are on the rise everywhere, with a sharp increase among those under 19 years of age, especially those aged from five to 12.
The EU
There has been a slight reprieve in the public vitriol between EU and AstraZeneca over delayed vaccine deliveries. European health chief Stella Kyriakides said there was a "constructive tone" in the bloc's Wednesday night exchange with the pharma giant, but added there was a "continued lack of clarity on delivery schedule." An EU official said AstraZeneca has failed to explain what happens with deliveries after March or how it will make up for the Q1 shortfall.
Brussels claims AstraZeneca breached the terms of its contract by prioritizing the UK over the EU following a production glitch at its Belgian plant. It now wants AstraZeneca to reroute jabs from the UK to the EU, something the company has flatly rejected. Talks are expected to continue.
Mia Alberti in Budapest
As the EU continues to row with AstraZeneca over vaccine delays, Hungarian officials have turned their back on the EU plan and procured independent deals with the UK, Russia and China.
Having already bought 2 million doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, which is expected to arrive by the end of the month, Hungary is now in talks with Beijing to buy the Sinopharm vaccine.
It has also independently approved the British AstraZeneca jab for emergency use. The European Medicines Agency is expected to present its ruling on the AstraZeneca jab as soon as Friday – but Hungary is already in prime position to start vaccination ahead of its fellow European member states.
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