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France indicts former health minister: COVID-19 Daily Bulletin
Gary Parkinson
Medical workers wear masks inside the red zone at a newly-built hospital in Novi Sad, Serbia. /Zorana Jevtic/Reuters

Medical workers wear masks inside the red zone at a newly-built hospital in Novi Sad, Serbia. /Zorana Jevtic/Reuters

 

TOP HEADLINES

• France's former health minister has been indicted for "endangering the lives of others" during the early stages of the pandemic. In late January 2020, Agnes Buzyn estimated the risk of the then unnamed novel coronavirus as "very low." She denies the charge and called the indictment "an excellent opportunity for me to explain myself and to set the record straight."

• Italy's medicines agency has warned against the misuse of an unlicensed antiviral drug as a COVID-19 therapy. Parvulan, an antiviral drug used as treatment for Herpes Zoster, is unauthorized in Italy but legally registered and marketed in Brazil.

• English Premier League soccer clubs which prevented players from Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Paraguay from traveling to participate in World Cup matches in the UK's COVID-19 red-list countries will be allowed to select them this weekend after a threat of a five-day ban was averted. 

• Denmark has ended all domestic COVID-19 restrictions, such as digital vaccination passes, after 548 days. More than 80 percent of over-12s in Denmark are double-jabbed. Travel and border restrictions remain. 

• Hungary's government has signed a letter of intent with Sinopharm executives to develop the required infrastructure within the next 10 months to produce the Chinese vaccine, the Foreign Ministry said.

• Top U.S. health officials believe that the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine could be authorized for children aged 5 to 11 years old by the end of October. Reuters reports the timeline is based on the expectation that there will be enough data from clinical trials to seek emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration towards the end of this month.

• The world's poorest countries asked for more help on Friday to meet vaccination and quarantine requirements and costs to ensure they can take part in next month's COP26 global climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland. "Delegates from the LDC Group remain concerned about the logistics of getting to Glasgow," Sonam Phuntsho Wangdi of Bhutan, chair of the group of the 46 Least Developed Countries, said in a statement.

 

France's former Health Minister Agnes Buzyn arrives at the Court of Justice of the Republic to defend her actions at the start of the pandemic. /Lucas Barioulet/AFP

France's former Health Minister Agnes Buzyn arrives at the Court of Justice of the Republic to defend her actions at the start of the pandemic. /Lucas Barioulet/AFP

 

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