A big fire at the Serum Institute of India killed five people, a government official told reporters, but the world's biggest vaccine maker said it would not affect production of the AstraZeneca coronavirus shot.
DEATHS AND INFECTIONS * Eikon users, see COVID-19: MacroVitals https://apac1.apps.cp.thomsonreuters.com/cms/?navid=1592404098 for a case tracker and summary of news.
EUROPE
* Britain's Glastonbury Festival, the largest greenfield music festival in the world, has been cancelled for the second year running because of the pandemic, organisers said.
* Bosnia plans to order Russian and Chinese vaccines fearing deliveries under the COVAX scheme for poor countries and from the European Union will be too little too late, officials said.
* The first batches of vaccine under the COVAX scheme could arrive in Ukraine in the first half of February.
* Portugal's schools and universities will close their doors for at least 15 days as authorities scramble to tackle the country's worst outbreak since the pandemic started.
* Chancellor Angela Merkel defended a decision to extend a hard lockdown in Germany by two weeks until mid-February, saying it was necessary to slow a new, more aggressive variant of the virus.
ASIA-PACIFIC
* India will give millions of vaccine doses to South Asian countries in the next few weeks, government sources said.
* China plans to impose strict testing requirements during the Lunar New Year holiday season, when tens of millions are expected to travel.
* South Korea expects its first batch of vaccines from the COVAX scheme within weeks and has begun setting up vaccination centres.
* Thailand's Food and Drug Administration has AstraZeneca's vaccine for domestic use, a health ministry source told Reuters.
AMERICAS
* The Brazilian manufacturer of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine is already producing shots, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund said, and output will be raised in February.
* President Joe Biden launched initiatives to rein in the raging pandemic, tackling his top priority on his first full day in the White House as he tries to turn the page on Donald Trump's tumultuous leadership.
MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA
* South Africa will pay $5.25 per dose for 1.5 million shots of AstraZeneca's vaccine from the Serum Institute of India, a senior official said, more than some wealthier countries are paying.
* Africa's coronavirus case fatality rate stands at 2.5%, higher than the global level of 2.2%, a trend that is alarming experts, the head of the continent's disease control body said.
MEDICAL DEVELOPMENTS
* A Beijing unit of Sinovac Biotech said it is facing difficulties in finding staff to expand vaccine production because of surging local infections and the imminent Lunar New Year holiday.
* The COVAX vaccine sharing platform said it aimed to deliver 1.8 billion doses to poorer countries in 2021 and hoped to fulfil supply deals for wealthier ones in the second half of the year.
* Oxford scientists are preparing to rapidly produce new versions of their vaccine to combat emerging more contagious COVID-19 variants discovered in the UK, South Africa and Brazil.
ECONOMIC IMPACT
* World stocks racked up record highs and the dollar fell, as investors bet major stimulus from new U.S. President Joe Biden and unswerving global central bank support would cushion the coronavirus's economic damage. [MKTS/GLOB]
* European governments need to speed up implementation of their coronavirus recovery fund to help make the region's post-pandemic economic transition faster and more even, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said.
(Compiled by Veronica Snoj and Milla Nissi, Editing by Arun Koyyur, Frances Kerry and Giles Elgood)
