• Bloomberg reports that ambassadors from EU countries are urging the European Commission to ensure that the bloc has contracts for coronavirus vaccine booster shots, which AstraZeneca, J & J, Moderna and Pfizer are developing in response to emerging variants. Source
• Malaysia will receive its first batch of coronavirus vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech; the National Immunisation Plan will be launched on 26 February. The country is also expecting to receive 41.4 million doses of yet-to-be approved vaccines from AstraZeneca, Gamaleya Research, Sinovac and Cansino plus an additional 6.4 million doses from COVAX. Concerns about whether any of the vaccines contain pork products from the country’s large Muslim population have been addressed by the National Council for Malaysian Islamic Affairs, which has confirmed that the vaccines are allowed. Source
• South African Health Minister Dr. Zweli Mkhize announces that the country has offered its supply of AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine to interested African Union countries that do not have the B.1351 variant, although he did not mention whether they would be donated or sold. Source
