Nearly 90 percent effective against covert 90 in china says it will no longer recognize a special british passport issued to people in hong kong and accuses the u. K. Of political interference and. Communities in nigeria a dutch court is expected to deliver its verdict against Oil Giant Shell this hour. With your support of the 14 days of quarantine the worlds top tennis court in australia and friends were. Welcome to the news hour the European Union is expected to give astra zeneca kovan 1000 Vaccine Limited emergency approval in the coming hours now thats despite a growing dispute between the blog and the company about a short. Of supply so the e. U. Says the vaccine maker has breached its multimillion dollar contract it was expecting at least 80000000. 00 doses by the end of march but astra zeneca cut supply a week ago blaming manufacturing issues now on thursday brussels warned it may have to ban exports of vaccines produced on the continent to protect stock and its questioned why it appears that the u. K. Supply has been unaffected well theres another potential help for the global inoculation dr thats the novaks vaccine produced by an American Firm but which has been tested in the u. K. And elsewhere its shown to be around 90 percent effective well get more on that in the situation in the u. K. Shortly with paul brennan who will join us from london but 1st lets bring in dominic came from berlin and dominic it seems that that rao is growing between the e. U. And astra zeneca over vaccine supply. The point to make here is the urgency which the European Union believes needs to be brought into this whole scenario they want they were expecting remember tens of millions of doses of this vaccine for which theyve already made a very large upfront payment more than 400000000. 00 they were expecting to have tens of millions of doses of the vaccine once its approved which we expect approval to come sometime this afternoon european time from amsterdam where the regulator body for the e. U. Is based and that once it would be approved that then tens of 1000000 doses over the course of the next few months would be made available but we now know that thats not going to be the case or at least far fewer will be made available and the route between the e. U. And the u. K. Has come down and the astra zeneca rather which is based in the u. K. Its headquarters there their hours come down to the interpretation of the contract signed between the 2 parties we know that earlier in the week the c. E. O. Mr soria of astra zeneca spoke of the best efforts that his company would try to bring to bear to supply the European Union well this morning the president of the e. U. Commission ursula funday lion speaking to german radio has said no the best efforts element only applied in the initial developmental developmental stages and that now that the vaccine exists and is being injected into people in the United Kingdom well there now astra zeneca is binding lee committed to supplying the e. U. With the doses it said it would do so you see this its not quite a war of words but theres no question here that the European Union is insisting upon what it believes is a binding commitment and it has a serious shortfall of millions of doses of vaccine to deal with over the course of the next couple of months and dominic let me ask you about what German Health officials are saying about giving that astra zeneca job to those 65 years old or it officials seem to be cautioning against that what more can you tell us. Well this is another interesting element thats unfolding of the course of the last few days the Standing Commission in germany from a Health Perspective that looks into the approval of vaccines and informs the Health Ministry of its recommendations and of course is the Health Ministry from a political perspective that would decide upon it but it was revealed earlier in the week that commission was likely to say that because of an insufficiency because of not enough data about how the vaccine the astra zeneca vaccine works in those who are over 65 that it should not be authorized for use in those over 65 until more data was available well the interesting thing is that the German Health minister the federal Health Minister has been speaking in a News Conference in the course of the past hour and has been asked repeatedly about what that entails and his his reply has been well known this is just a draft document thats been circulated by the commission and that new binding decision will be made until the vaccine is authorized for use in the e. U. Well then were expecting that to happen this afternoon so in some ways hes trying to dodge the subject however he did say eventually that he expected that perhaps it would be the case that it would be only to be used in those under the age of 65. 00 with the huge caveat here that the recommendation has to be made the vaccine has to be authorised and then he can make the decision as it were and one final thought there is pressure coming from a political perspective here in germany from conservative allies of mr sharon the Prime Minister of a very market a man who has his own political ambitions potentially to be chancellor of this country in the next 9 months or so he said well if you cant authorize the vaccine for those over 65 well then give it to the to the medical personnel in hospitals and in care homes so that they can benefit from the protection that it would it would provide so lots being talked about here right dominic a leg up well let you. But i will speak to the later thank you dominic a reporting from berlin lets join paul brennan hes give us the update from london and specifically on that novaks vaccine paul what do the trials tell us about its safety and its efficacy. Well reaction so they announced minutes from novaks this morning here in the u. K. Has been was like spectacular and thrilled and compare and contrast for example the trials and tribulations that the europeans have been having with their vaccine rollout to the rollout thats been taking place here in the u. K. Im outside a Mass Vaccination Center in wembley within within sight of the famous football stadium here this one of the 50 mass vaccinations senses that are in existence and some 1300. 00 vaccinations senses of large and small to prices that are scattered around the u. K. Novaks is a drug which has a lot of advantages according to the data 1st of all storage it can be stored at a normal refrigerator temperature so it doesnt have the difficulties that the far as a bio tech vaccine has as far as transportation and storage secondly the results themselves 1 were extremely encouraging and as i say through old and spectacular 2 of the work that ive heard this morning 89 percent effectiveness the numbers involved in the trial were relatively small these phase 3 trials and the data now has to be presented to regulate says in a matter of weeks from now so were not talking about an imminent approval most likely were talking about approval or consideration somewhere around a full time on the rollout of the actual vaccine itself in the 2nd hoff of 2021 so its not an immediate breakthrough that said huge encouraging and that sort of 3 other vaccines that have already been approved for use here in the u. K. All right paul thank you so much for that. Lets discuss all things vaccine with jeff liz r us is the head of Health Systems at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health news joining us from copenhagen thanks for your time with us on the news hour id like to get into the rao thats currently taking place between the e. U. And astra zeneca over vaccine supply but 1st what is your reaction to the news of the novaks vaccine thats showing to be around 90 percent effective so far its fantastic news its inspiring news its what we want to hear any time a new vaccine against covert 19 shows that strong results its just good news for the world it was a it was a small number of participants more studies are needed they need to submit their results but its a great step forward area will definitely be keeping an eye out on that one ok lets turn our attention to the European Union and an astra zeneca obviously this route taking place over a shortage of vaccine supply and you expect this to escalate and what will be the implications of this on vaccine rollouts in european countries. Well the implication of course is that if we dont have this supply it was expected that the nations those down and that thats really devastating right now were still in the winter months receive cases increasing high levels of mortality so we need to be vaccinated as quickly as possible and importantly weve told the population weve convinced them you know you need to get that the majority of europeans are willing to get back so that it now were telling them that are there we have contacts in place we dont have the expected supply so im not its hard to know if it will escalate im glad to see that the European Commission and astra zeneca officials are meeting. They need to do Everything Possible to to ramp up production to resolve the matter and i suppose from you is point of view what they say is that well there are delivery bottlenecks concerning this vaccine but those are only a couple to the e. U. And not the u k. Is the u. K. Getting preferential treatment is thats whats going on to ask that of course denies this but whats your opinion. I mean its hard to know if the contract is closed we know theres 2 plants in the u. K. Theres plans in belgium and the netherlands we also need to remember that right now the e. U. Hasnt even approved. Yes isnt it next year thats expected to come right about now since all of this is been going on to get ready for the most helpful or expected approval so i think you got me and the e. U. Yesterday negotiations need to sit down look at the supply make the numbers more transparency and we know whats going on and also look importantly where else we can increase production so we have the astra zeneca plants but i mean this is were talking about 27 e. U. Countries so what other opportunities are there to to produce this vaccine to jeff those are as thank you so much for speaking to us from copenhagen thank you now thailands government is facing criticism about its vaccine rollout after it switched Vaccine Companies just 2 weeks out from its 1st phase thailand had originally chosen the chinese sort of odd job but is now moving forward with the one produced by Oxford Astra Zeneca that vaccine is set to be produced locally later in the year by a firm own by the thai King Scott Hadley reports from bangkok. Protesters gathered outside the offices of bio science in bangkok this week accusing the government of being swayed by royal influence over its covert 19 Vaccine Program the company is owned by the king and now holds the exclusive contract to manufacture the Oxford Astra Zeneca jab in thailand so far the only certified vaccine that prompted the main opposition figure who was banned from Holding Political office for 10 years by court last year to go public with what he saw as a flawed process. Other question is better disc game gave too much benefit to one company on a royal defamation complaint has been filed against hannah torn for his criticism but hes undeterred and says his concern is more than just possible collusion during contract negotiations if anything were to go wrong with the vaccine manufacturing the governments hands are tied you have legal immunity because it used to stand but as a window to the government contract she is the chair of this committee and the things go wrong the government cannot. Do or know become to be the minister of Public Health says theres no room for politics when it comes to vaccines i fully believe strongly believe that i have quiet the best the most proper. People i will make sure that there will be. I already privilege siham by a science or alternately manufacturer the Oxford Astra Zeneca japara thailand and the region up to 200000000. 00 doses a year to receive 20000000. 00 in Government Funds to upgrade its facilities part of a pandemic grant system the job will be free to all thais and will run as a nonprofit operation but c. M. Bio science stands to substantially boost its revenue once the pandemic is over busy times at this buddhist temple here and bangkoks chinatown as people come out to pray for good fortune ahead of the Lunar New Year while recognizing the government success in containing kobe 1000 some are concerned about the vaccine rollout and the politics surrounding it. But i think that the vaccine plan is not clear we still do not know if the vaccine is safe enough to use and thats what we want. Well you know my fat no one like that i dont know what the future holds i think that this is a very early phase and we wont find out the results of the vaccine immediately. What the year of the ox will hold for the people of thailand depends on controlling the virus and the success of its vaccine and many people here praying for just that its got harder aljazeera bangkok. And more ahead on the aljazeera news hour including this we look at why a possible free trade deal with the u. S. Could worsen kenyas problem with Plastic Waste in sports news back to winning ways well have action from liverpools victory in the premier league thats always coming up with peter a little later. But 1st china saying it will no longer recognize the British National overseas passport available to 3000000 hong kong residents beijing made the move off to the u. K. Long stay visa scheme that allows these passport holders to apply for british citizenship its in response to the National Security law imposed on hong kong by china the u. K. Government says its standing up for freedom lets bring in katrina you joining us from beijing what more is the Chinese Government saying about this. Well just for a little bit of context under this anybody in Hong Kong Born before the in 1907 that was the year that the territory was hangin handed back to the main one is eligible for British National overseas status status or to have been a passport which is essentially a special u. K. Passport now china has hit back today on friday and said it will no longer recognize a benaud passport as a valid travel document so hong kong residents will not be able to use it to enter or to leave hong kong now beijing has been actually mulling over this move now for months and its related to the National Security law which was imposed by beijing in hong kong last july now that more basically outlaws any separatism or any subversion against the government and since it was imposed dozens of people in hong kong have been arrested and many critics believe it crushes the rights and the freedoms guaranteed to hong kong people in the treaty between the u. K. And Mainland China during that handover period so many people have interpreted this move. In a passport as a way or an avenue for people for the people who are concerned about their rights in hong kong to essentially flee hong kong into the u. K. Now one of the biggest critics of the National Security law was Boris Johnson the Prime Minister of the u. K. And his government and he recently expanded the rights of the b n o holders saying that they are able to apply to live and work in hong kong for about 5 years and eventually to seek citizenship and he said that this was on during the ties in the friendship between the u. K. And hong kong people now this infuriated china and on friday Chinas Foreign Ministry spokesperson jolly jen said it was a gross interference of chinas sovereignty and also said the move was turning hong kong people into 2nd class british citizens now china not recognizing the be in a past but will be this way to be beijings way to block this move london did estimated only about 300000 people would take up the u. K. s offer but still this would have been hugely embarrassing for beijing. All right thank you so much for that update from beijing lets speak to nathan law hes a prodemocracy activist who fled to london from hong kong hes joining us from london thanks for your time with us on the news hour and new. This announcement by the u. K. Government tell us why. Yeah definitely new to the u. K. Government such that its a commitment to the agreement with hong kong and when hong kongs freedom is being the theory that baidu commentators of the National Security law its a response from the u. K. Get one that gives it to the people of say seeing political suppression. Bearing that responsibility as one of the correspond of. The treaty so i think its definitely a very prompt response to. Even issuing rights in freedom we dont. Try any move to no longer recognise this process or at the British National overseas passports to those in hong kong does that complicate things. For now we dont have much evolution about how old the transcript and more were carried out. In the statement basically when the people get into Mainland Chi