• The US FDA announces that it has authorized a single booster dose of the Moderna or Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus for all individuals 18 years of age and older after completion of primary vaccination with any FDA-authorized or approved vaccine. Source
• A Canadian Press survey reports that the country has thrown away over a million doses of coronavirus vaccines – amounting to 2.6 percent of the national supply. Vaccine disposal rates varied widely across the country, from 10 percent in Alberta to 0.3 percent in Nova Scotia, for reasons including dropped vials or syringes, defective syringes, damaged vials, poor dose management and expired doses. Source
• Austria, which has entered a nationwide lockdown, becomes the first country in western Europe to mandate coronavirus vaccines. Source
• In China, a man was 200,000 yuan ($31,000) and given a two-year suspended prison sentence after failing to disclose staying in a hotel with COVID-19 patients, and that he developed COVID-related symptoms during a business trip to Vietnam. The man, who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 when he returned to China, was also caught sneaking out of his hotel room to meet friends during his quarantine. Source
• Canada expands its list of accepted coronavirus vaccines to include shots from Bharat Biotech, Sinopharm and Sinovac, making entry easier for fully vaccinated visitors from Brazil, China and India, where they are commonly used. Source
• Canada approves the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for children ages 5 to 11 years. Source