• The US surpasses 550,000 deaths from COVID-19. Source
• Pfizer/BioNTech issue a press release with data from its 2,260-person phase III trial of its coronavirus vaccine in adolescents ages 12 to 15 years, saying it was 100 percent effective and generally well tolerated. The press release also provided an update from the phase I/II/III study in children ages 6 months to 11 years, saying that dosing has begun in ages 5-11 years, and will begin in children ages 2-5 years next week. Source
• COVAX delivers 33,600 of 100,800 doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine allocated to Belize. Source
• COVAX delivers 380,000 of 1,968,000 doses of the Serum Institute/AstraZenea coronavirus vaccine allocated to Yemen. Source
• COVAX delivers 24,000 of 43,200 AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine doses allocated to Tonga. Source
• COVAX delivers 34,000 of 100,800 AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine doses allocated to Trinidad and Tobago. Source
• A day after WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus criticized a report from WHO-led team on the origins of coronavirus, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying replied “We need to respect science and respect the opinions and the conclusions reached by scientists,” calling for WHO to play a leading role. Source
• French President Emanuel Macron announces a third national lockdown in an attempt to control the coronavirus. Source
• An Emergent BioSolutions plant, which produces coronavirus vaccines (and has been criticized for undercutting its competition and aggressive lobbying for federal contracts), contaminated up to 15 million doses of the J & J vaccine when workers mistakenly combined it with the AstraZeneca vaccine, triggering an FDA investigation – which has delayed vaccine production. Source
• Russia approves Carnivak-Cov, the first coronavirus vaccine for animals; it has been studied in dogs, cats, foxes, Arctic foxes, minks and other animals. Production is scheduled to begin in April 2021. Source