Friday, 26 Feb 2021 12:19 PM MYT
Colombia’s President Ivan Duque (centre) delivering a speech upon the arrival of 50,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine at El Dorado International Airport in Bogota February 15, 2021. Colombia’s Presidency/Nicolas Galeano handout pic via AFP
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BOGOTA, Feb 26 ― Colombia will extend its health state of emergency to curb the spread of coronavirus by three months, President Ivan Duque said yesterday, adding that the country is in talks to buy additional doses of coronavirus vaccines produced by China s Sinovac Biotech.
Colombia earlier announced agreements with a raft of pharmaceutical companies ― including Sinovac ― as well as the World Health Organisation-backed COVAX mechanism to secure 61.5 million vaccine doses, enough to inoculate some 32.5 million people.
Five people died as a fire tore through a building in the world s biggest vaccine manufacturing hub in India Thursday, but the company insisted the production of drugs to counter the coronavirus pandemic would continue.
Rescue workers discovered five bodies in the under-construction building after the blaze at the Serum Institute of India was brought under control, media reports said, with officials in the western city of Pune confirming the toll.
A second, smaller blaze broke out in the same building late Thursday, local media reports said. Five people have died, city mayor Murlidhar Mohol told reporters.
TV channels showed thick clouds of grey smoke billowing from the sprawling site, which is responsible for producing millions of doses of the Covishield coronavirus vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University.
Ghana is expecting a first delivery of just over 350 000 AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine shots by the end of next week, a plan presented by health officials on Friday showed.
President Joe Biden has urged US allies to work together against autocratic threats and to meet economic challenges posed by Russia and China in a message to G7 partners that underscored his “America is back” rallying cry in stark contrast to his predecessor’s “America first” agenda. The US president sought to rally allies and repair bonds scorched by Donald Trump and his nationalist administration in a virtual address to the Munich Security.